Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Leading Albion into the boys soccer season are senior veterans Vinnie Molisani, Andrew Uderitz and Corleone Plain. Missing from the photo is Ulises Ledesma.

Albion will face the host school in the semifinals of the season opening Wheatland-Chili boys soccer tournament at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The consolation and finals are slated for Friday.

The Purple Eagles lineup features a blend of a small veteran nucleus with a promising group of underclassmen.

That group includes senior veterans Vinnie Molisani, Andrew Uderitz, Corleone Plain and Ulises Ledesma along with newcomers David Rosario and Adrian Figuerroa-Fuentes, both sophomores, and Pablo Rosario-Reyes, a freshman.

Uderitz was a second team Niagara-Orleans All-League honoree last year while Plain and Ledesma were both Honorable Mention selections.

“We’ve got some guys who can score and they are creative,” said Coach Bridgette Varin. “Right now we’re working on getting our defense organized. The defense is the focus.”

Albion will open the N-O season at rival Medina on September 9.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Getting set to lead Kendall into the up coming girls varsity soccer season is this group of veterans. In front are Emma Quintern, Megan Gates, Angelina Aquirre and Ava Quintern. In back are Mary Jones, Regan VanDusen, Lily Lavaca, Liz Pratt and Brooke Rodas.

Underclassmen dominate the lineup for the Kendall girls varsity soccer team which will tune up for the Genesee Region League season by competing in the Albion Tournament on Wednesday and Friday.

The Lady Eagles will face Newfane in Wednesday’s 4:30 p.m. opener as Albion will host Alexander at 6:30 p.m..

Kendall is led by the veteran group of seniors Emma Quintern, Regan VanDusen, Mary Jones and Lily Lavaca along with juniors Angelina Aquirre,  Megan Gates and Elizabeth Pratt, sophomore Ava Quintern and freshman Brooke Rodas. Ava Quintern scored 13 goals last season.

“We have a young team but we have a strong core to build off of,” said Coach Paul Zeppetella. “We’re looking forward to getting going.”

The Lady Eagles graduation losses included G-R All-Stars T’mia Kitchings and Alezya Brown along with Honorable Mention selections Julie Coble, Grace Robinson, Kailie Regan and Grace Levett.

Kendall will open the G-R season at home on September 9 against Byron-Bergen.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Veteran members of the Medina golf team include, from left, Gunner Pitcher, Tyler Allen, Aidan Paul, Dylan Lonnen and Jackson Clute. The Mustangs opened the Niagara-Orleans League season with a win over Albion this morning at Hickory Ridge.

Niagara-Orleans League golf competition got underway this morning as Medina posted a 241-274 win over Albion at Hickory Ridge.

Medina’s duo of senior Aidan Paul and junior Dylan Lonnen shared medalist honors with rounds of 41. Sophomore Tyler Allen added a 46 for the Mustangs.

Albion was led by the senior trio of Nick Andrews who shot 47, Chris Sacco 49 and Caleb Fox 49.

For the season Medina is also looking to juniors Jackson Clute and Devin Kinney along with freshmen Gunner Pitcher, Gavin Watts, Padraigh Crowley and eighth grader Camdon Fike.

Albion’s starting group also includes sophomore Oliver Beach and eighth grader Drew Pritchard.

Leading the Albion golf team this season is the veteran quartet of, from left, Chris Sacco, Caleb Fox, Oliver Beach and Nick Andrews.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s group of returning regulars includes, in front, Drew Carlson, Jesse Patterson and Keon Houghton. In back are Riley Allen, Cameron Bates, Lorenzo Zaragoza and Lance Babcock.

Looking to rebound from last year’s 4-11-2 record, the Holley boys varsity soccer team will begin preparing for the Genesee Region League season by hosting Batavia in a non league contest at 5 p.m. Friday.

Holley returns a good group of returning regulars including seniors Riley Allen (midfield), Cameron Bates (forward), Drew Carlson (defender) and Jesse Patterson (midfield) along with juniors Lorenzo Zaragoza (forward),  Lance Babcock (midfield) and Keon Houghton (midfield).

The Hawks are also looking to senior midfielders Zach Sonera, Chris Lyndaker, Matt Barlow and Roman Odeychuk along with junior goalie Cavan Bennage and sophomores Will Kruger and Chris Mosier.

“We’ve got a really good group of kids who are very committed,” said Coach Zach Ritz.

Holley will open the G-R season at Pembroke on September 6. The Hawks league home opener will be on September 12 against Byron-Bergen/Elba.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Veteran members of the Roy-Hart field hockey squad include, in front, Alyana Kowalski, Cheyenne Stilwell, Izzy Santella, Madison Kelley and Brooke Zglinicki. In back are Cayla Burch, Sam Sperduti, Abby Glyshaw, Dillon Santella and Olivia Marsillo. Missing from the photo is Lorna Becker.

Boasting a good blend of seniors and underclassmen veterans, Roy-Hart is taking aim at improving upon last year’s 6-6 Niagara-Orleans League field hockey record.

In all the Lady Rams return a total of 11 veterans including seniors Cheyenne Stilwell, Izzy Santella, Madison Kelley and Lorne Becker; junior Cayla Burch; sophomores Sam Sperduti, Abby Glyshaw and Olivia Marsillo and freshmen Alyana Kowalsi, Brooke Zglinicki and Dillon Santella.

Stilwell, who led Roy-Hart in scoring with 23 goals and 8 assists, earned second team N-O All-League honors while Becker was an Honorable Mention selection. Zglinicki also had 5 goals and 6 assists.

The Lady Rams graduation losses included defender Claire Halstead, who earned first team N-O All-League honors, forward Sydney Rhinehart and midfielder Justine Laverty.

“We’ve got a good experienced group back and we’re looking forward to having a good season,” said Colleen Albee who is co-coaching the Lady Rams with here daughter Rielly Albee.

Roy-Hart will host Nardin in a non league contest at 10 a.m. Tuesday in preparation for the September 6 N-O home opener against Medina.

Contributed Photo – Giovanni LaMartina hauls in a touchdown catch from Heyden Almonte for Albion during Saturday’s Mini Division win over TRi Town.

Albion romped to victories in all four games over visiting Tri Town Saturday in Niagara Orleans Football Association (NOFA) competition taking the Beginners contest 27-6, the Mini 45-6, the JV 26-0 and the Varsity 32-0.

Beginners
Albion 27, Tri Town 6
Jayce Torres touched the ball just three times for Albion and he made them all count scoring on runs of 72, 45 and 42.

Defensively, Kairo Bennett picked up a fumble and returned it 36 yards for the touchdown. Zion O’Neal had 5 tackles, Cayden Farrell and Torres added 4 each.

Mini
Albion 45, Tri Town 6
Heyden Almonte had a big day for the Mini Eagles. He finished with 194 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns, a TD pass and a fumble return for a score.

Giovanni LaMartina had the TD reception and added a 30 yard TD run. Ethan Olles added 83 yards rushing and Landon Farrell had a rushing TD.

On defense, Farrell had 5 tackles, Connor Hinckley 4, Almonte and LaMartina 3 each.

JV
Albion 26, Tri Town 0
AJ Sullivan led the Albion offense with 67 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. Also on the ground, Braydon LaMartina had 62 yards, Anthony O’Neal 49 and Anthony Hall a TD run. Sullivan also threw a TD pass to Parker Roberts.

Thailer Seibert was a defensive standout with 6 tackles. Colin Smith added 4 and Oliver Stoffa 2 sacks.

Varsity
Albion 32, Tri Town 0
Leading the Albion offense were Elijah Doxey who picked up 111 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground and caught a 51 yard TD from Jonah Elsenheimer and Noah Harrison who caught TD passes of 44 and 65 from Elsenheimer as well.

For the defense, Jaxon Lynch had 6 tackles, Chris Almonte, Chrisjen Winters each added 5, Elsenheimer 4 and Hayden Pollock 3.

Medina scored a three game sweep at Holley Saturday in Niagara Orleans Football Association (NOFA) play winning the Beginners game 25-12, the Mini contest 32-0 and the JV game by forfeit as Holley did not have enough players. Medina also defeated Barker/Roy-Hart 7-0 in the Varsity Division game.

Beginners
Medina 25, Holley 12
It was another good day for the Medina Ponys though again they had a slow start, giving up the first TD of the game to Holley. However, things turned around from there as they get the next three scores in the game.

Zach Allen started things off with a 35 yard TD run, but the extra point was no good and the Ponys trailed 7-6 after one quarter. The second quarter was all Ponys as Allen again got loose, this time for a 25 yard TD and Kaydence Russaw ran in the extra point to make it 13-7. Allen then ran 32 yards for a TD but they missed the point and Medina led 19-7 at the half.

There was no scoring in the third quarter though Lyric Chinn had a nice 35 yard run. In the final quarter the Hawks scored again to make it a close game at 19-12, but Russaw puts this one away with a 2 yard TD run for the 25-12 final score.

This defense had a solid game led by Russaw, Allen, Shane Re and Cayden Dubois.

Minis
Medina 32, Holley 0
This one was all Medina Colts with their own version of Thunder (Damareon Shine) and Lightning (Luke Hungerford) providing all of the scoring.

Shine scored from 45 yards out in the first quarter and 51 yards in the second quarter to make it 12-0 at half time thanks to a huge effort from the defense, led by Xander Groves, Kyle Bolton, Ja’Keir Taylor and Zachary Smith.

In the third quarter Hungerford got in on the scoring with a long, weaving 70 yard TD run and Shine adds his third from 5 yards out, with Luke adding the extra point run. Hungerford scored the final TD in the fourth quarter from 45 yards out and Patrick Grollmes tossed the extra point pass to Ja’Keir Taylor.

JV
Medina 2, Holley 0 (Forfeit)
Holley was short handed in this one, but the teams agreed to play a shortened game to get both teams some extra play against an opponent. Kendrick Russaw and Caliyah St. Louis scored touchdowns for Medina.

Varsity
Medina 7, Barker Roy-Hart 0
This one was all about a great defensive effort from both teams as both offenses ended up scoreless.

The biggest play of the game came on defense in the third quarter as Zahkius Chinn picked up a fumble and ran in from 7 yards out for the only touchdown of the game. MacKoy Hall ran in the extra point. Matthew Jacobs, Ryan Frentz, Hadrian Batista and Autumn Rizzo all helped to spark the defensive effort.

The offense was able to put up some good running game from a combination of Hall, Dean Fischer, William Ribbeck, Matthew Jacobs and Treyden Rhim.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Veteran members of Medina’s squad include, in front, Chris Johnson, Xavier King, Roosevelt Mitchell, Dominic Larabee and Ollie Wilson. In back are Cayden Lilleby, Noah Skinner, Brody Fry, Cole Callard and Kaedon Cleveland. Missing from the photo is Josh Wilson.

Coming off a record setting championship season which included an 11-1 record and a first ever trip to the state playoffs, Medina is prepping to begin defense of its Class C North Division title looking to fill a number of key skill position vacancies caused by graduation.

A large veteran line which includes senior tackle Chris Johnson (6-0, 255), junior tackle Roosevelt Mitchell (6-4, 320), senior guard Ollie Wilson (6-3, 205) and junior guard Xavier King (6-2, 195) anchors the offense. Junior Sawyer Kingsbury (6-2, 195) looks to take over the center position with the graduation of Colvin Stalker as Josh Wilson shifts from guard to tight end with the graduation of Joe Cecchini.

“We’ve got pretty good size up front,” said Coach Eric Valley. “Last year we were a quick strike team on offense but this year we will be looking to be more methodical and pound the ball. We are just looking to keep moving the chains on offense and play good defense.”

Seniors Noah Skinner who rushed for 740 yards and 11 touchdowns, and Dominic Larabee and sophomore Brody Fry provide veteran experience at the running back spots where Iverson Poole (576 yards rushing and 10 TDs) is the biggest loss to graduation.

Three players – senior Aiden Pitts and juniors Julian Woodworth and Noah Cudzillo – are vying for the key starting quarterback position vacated by the graduation of record setting signalcaller Xander Payne (1,636 yards passing and 22 touchdowns).

Senior Cayden Lilleby, juniors Kaedon Cleveland and Logan Gray, sophomore Brayden McEwen-Miller and freshman Jerrell Nealy look to help fill out the receiver spots which lost Jarin Rhim (494 yards receiving and 7 TDs) and Greg Thompson (499 yards receiving and 6 TDs and 559 yards rushing and 5 TDs) to graduation.

Sophomore Cole Callard also returns to handle the placekicking duties.

Juniors Xavier Bloom and Will Prest look to help out at the key linebacking spots on defense along with Skinner, Fry and McEwen-Miller. Up front the Mustangs return plenty of experience in Johnson, Mitchell and  Larabee along with Josh and Ollie Wilson. Lilleby and Cleveland provide some experience in the secondary. Secondary losses to graduation included Hayden Woodroe, Poole, Rhim, Thompson and Payne.

“On defense our front four is back and we have good experience at linebacker but our secondary is young,” said Valley. “We had a great year last year but this is a new season and we’re just going to take it one game at a time.”

The Mustangs open defense of their C North Division title by hosting Newfane at 7 p.m. Friday.

Medina’s other home games will be against Cleveland Hill on Sept. 16, Springville on Oct. 7 and Akron on Oct. 13. The road contests will be at Roy-Hart/Barker/Lyndonville on Sept. 9, Tonawanda on Sept. 23, East Aurora on Sept. 30 and Albion on Oct. 21.