Roy-Hart got a huge help this afternoon to claim the Niagara-Orleans League boys soccer championship as Newfane nipped Akron 1-0.

Roy-Hart finishes the season in first place at 7-3 just ahead of 6-3-1 Akron. Newfane winds up in third place at game back at 6-4.

Trevor Heschke scored the lone goal for Newfane which avenged an earlier season 3-1 loss to Akron.

Roy-Hart split a pair of one goal decisions with Newfane this season winning the first 4-3 and losing the second 1-0.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s JJ Strathern sends the ball towards the goal as Tory Raufeisen and Joe Nettles converge for Kendall. The action took place during the host Hawks win over the rival Eagles this afternoon.

Taking the season series two games to one, Holley defeated visiting rival Kendall 3-0 this afternoon in a non league boys soccer game.

JJ Strathern scored what proved to be the game winning goal for Holley with 11 minutes to go in the first half.

Kendall’s Michael McCue looks to pass.

It stayed a tight 1-0 game until Nathan Nothnagle scored for the Hawks with eight minutes to go in the second half.

Nothnagle also scored again with 1:24 remaining to cap off the win as Kayden Servais earned his second assist of the day.

Broek Ostram earned the shutout in goal.

Both teams missed on a penalty kick opportunity, Kendall in the first half and Holley in the second.

Holley is now 9-2 and Kendall 4-7.

Earlier this season the teams split a pair of Genesee Region League contests. Holley won the first 4-3 in overtime and Kendall the second 2-0.

Holley’s Nathan Nothnagle sends the ball up field as Derek Edick comes in to defend for Kendall.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Akron’s Sophia Jones tries to get the ball past Barker goalie Courtney Hillman and defender Ella Gooding. The action took place during the Lady Raiders key win over the host Lady Tigers this morning.

Avenging an earlier season shootout loss, defending champion Barker nipped host Akron 1-0 this morning to gain a share of the Niagara-Orleans League field hockey lead.

Akron is now 10-1 and Barker 9-1.

Barker scored the game’s only goal on the Lady Raiders lone shot of the morning as Madison Gancasz tallied off a corner opportunity three minutes into the second quarter.

Akron’s Laicy Karczewski battles with Barker’s Addison Szafranski for the ball.

Ella Gooding inserted the ball to start the decisive corner opportunity as Lena Fazzolari and Addison Szafranski picked up assists as Gancasz finished off the play.

The goal was the first Akron has allowed this season.

“We got the one shot and we made the most of it” said Barker Coach Jeff Costello whose defense kept the Lady Raiders in the game.

Akron had a whopping 12-2 advantage in corners and an 11-1 edge in shots.

“That was the best we’ve done at clearing the ball,” said Costello. “They got their shots but we were able to limit their second chances. We made some changes on how we defend and we tightened up and did a much better job of clearing the ball.”

Courtney Hillman earned the shutout in goal for the Lady Raiders whose defensive unit was anchored by Fazzolari, Gooding and Ashlin Cole.

Barker will close out the N-O season by visiting Kenmore on Tuesday and Newfane on Thursday while Akron’s lone remaining game is at Kenmore on Thursday.

Medina 4, Newfane 3

Medina trimmed host Newfane 4-3 as Lydia Fox had two goals and an assist, Sophia Cardone a goal and an assist, Abi Blount a goal and FaithAnn Vanderwalker two assists.

Medina is now 3-6-2 and Newfane 1-9.

Kenmore 1, Wilson 0

Kenmore (4-5-1) made it three wins in the last four starts by trimming Wilson (2-9) 1-0.

Barker’s Lena Fazzolari tries to keep the ball away from Akron’s Laicy Karczewski.

Medina’s Cameron Castanon and Arian Cayea lead boys race; Kylie Bowman of Newfane is N-O league champ for girls

Photos by Tom Rivers: Cameron Castanon of Medina heads to the finish line in winning the Niagara-Orleans League title today in Barker in a time of 17:31.

BARKER – Newfane’s cross country team swept the Niagara-Orleans League titles today in Barker.

The Newfane girls made it six straight titles. They scored 23 points and their first five runners were all in the top 10, led by Kylie Bowman is 1st, Leah Siegmann in 3rd, Taylor Heschke in 4th, Catalena Ersing in 6th and Marina Ersing in 9th.

Kylie Bowman of Newfane finished first in the girls race in 19:50, the only one to break 20 minutes among the girls.

The Newfane girls topped Akron (60 points), Wilson (89 points), Albion (98 points), Barker (100 points), Roy-Hart (164) and Medina (178 points).

The Newfane boys have now won the league title four straight years. They had five of the top 12 spots and were led by Nick Baes in 4th, Andrew Cuzzacrea in 6th, Connor Cuzzacrea in 7th, Jayden Reynolds in 9th and Austin Burkhard in 12th.

Newfane’s 38 points topped Medina (47), Barker (76), Albion (117), Roy-Hart (130), Akron (139), and Wilson (175).

Mike Heitzenrater, Newfane coach, said the team stayed motivated during the summer, even with uncertainty whether there would be a season. There won’t be a state meet, but there will be Sectionals in about two weeks in Bemus Point. With no state meet, Heitzenrater said Newfane is putting a greater focus on the league and Sectionals.

He praised Kylie Bowman, the freshman who won the race.

“She worked all through the summer regardless if whether there would be a season or not,” Heitzenrater said.

Bowman switched from soccer to cross country last season. She was second to Lauren Wagner of Akron at the 2019 N-O League race. This year they switched places.

Bowman said the Newfane runners pushed each other in a friendly way.

“I really like being on the team,” she said. “It’s like a family.”

Lauren Wagner of Akron, the defending N-O League and Sectional champ, was second in today’s race in a time of 20:09. She is shown leading Taylor Heschke of Newfane, who finished fourth in 20:30. They are pictured at about the halfway point in the 5-kilometer race.

Cameron Castanon of Medina won the boys race in a blistering 17:31. He held off a pack that included his teammate Arian Cayea who was second in 17:36, Reuben Rivers of Albion in third (17:37), Nick Baes of Newfane in fourth (17:38) and Jay Heideman of Roy-Hart in fifth (17:39).

Christian Held, the Medina coach, said it was an exciting race with the five in the front pushing each other so hard.

“They were all going for it today,” Held said. “It was so much fun to watch.”

Arian Cayea of Medina, right, finished second in 17:36, edging Reuben Rivers of Albion, third (17:37); Nick Baes of Newfane, fourth (17:38); and Jay Heideman of Roy-Hart, fifth (17:39).

The Medina boys were second and were 5-1 during the season, a significant turnaround from a year ago when the team was in last place at the league race.

“They are really hungry,” Held said. “They have grown and they have worked hard. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids.”

Cameron Castanon has won every race he’s been in this fall.

“He is a natural runner, who just runs, and runs, and runs,” his coach said.

Held also praised Arian Cayea who was second and made a strong move at the finish.

“He is a worker who likes to hunt people down,” Held said.

Castanon said the team stayed active in the summer. He ran and also did a lot of biking to prepare for a season that was in doubt due to Covid-19 restrictions.

“Mentally it’s been a hard season,” Castanon said about the uncertainty and often solo runs. “But you get out of it what you put into it.”

Alanna Holman of Albion was fifth today, finishing ahead of Catalena Ersing of Newfane. Holman, a senior, earned first team all-league for the fourth straight year.

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Holley defeated host Attica 3-1  this evening to improve to 8-1-2 in Genesee Region League girls soccer competition.

Samantha Bates scored in the first half for Holley off an assist from Hayley Skidmore.

Kayleigh Neale then scored twice in the second half for the Lady Hawks as Allyson Skehan earned the assist on the second tally.

Emma Brady made 6 saves in goal for Holley.

Kendall  romped to a 7-2 win over visiting Attica to improve to 5-4-1 in G-R action.

T’Mia Kitchings and Lizzy Woodams both scored two goals for Kendall as Madison Jacob, Grace Levett and Regan VanDusen each scored one.

In another G-R game, Alexander downed visiting Lyndonville/Medina 7-0.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Dan Mandujano (10), who scored two goals for Medina/Lyndonville, works around Albion defender Aidan Smith during the Mustangs win at Vets Park this evening.

A quick three goal burst late in the first half provided all of the scoring as Medina/Lyndonville blanked rival Albion 3-0 in a Niagara-Orleans League boys soccer game this evening at Vets Park.

Dan Mandujano scored what proved to be the game winning goal for the Mustangs on a header off an assist from Nate Dillenbeck with 12:25 remaining in the first half.

Medina/Lyndonville’s Sebastian Zilempe and Albion’s Jack Ludwick battle for control of the ball.

Mandujano scored again less than two minutes later at 10:31 when he tallied off an assist from Jacob Corser.

Dillenbeck upped the Mustangs lead to 3-0 five minutes later when he scored on a header off an assist from Alex Barry with 5:17 to go in the half.

Zack Fike earned the shutout in goal for the Mustangs.

Medina improves to 5-3-1 in N-O action after a slow 0-3 start to the league season.

Albion finishes the N-O campaign at 0-10.

Roy-Hart 3, Wilson 2

Roy-Hart stayed in the N-O title chase with a 3-2 win over Wilson as the Rams finish the league season at 7-3.

Trent Choate scored all three goals for the Rams, one in the first half and two in the second. Noah Stern earned the assist on all three goals.

Roy-Hart now needs Newfane (5-4) to defeat Akron (6-2-1) on Saturday afternoon at Newfane in order to claim the N-O title. An Akron win will give the Tigers the title.

Albion goalie Jeff Brown makes a save on a shot by Medina/Lyndonville’s Nate Dillenbeck.

Coming from behind, Holley edged past visiting Wheatland-Chili 2-1 this evening to finish the Genesee Region League boys soccer season at 8-2.

W-C jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick goal but Holley pulled even before halftime on a goal by KJ Biedlingmaier off an assist from Nathan Nothnagle.

The Hawks then claimed the win on a second half goal by Nothnagle as Kayden Servais earned the assist.

In the other G-R contests, Pembroke outlasted Kendall 5-4 and front-running Attica blanked Byron-Bergen /Elba 2-0.

Two penalty kick goals proved to be the difference for Pembroke which led 3-0 at the half.

Kendall closed to within one three times in the second half but could not pull even.

The Eagles got goals from Jake Esposito, Mike McCue, Hayden VanDusen and Zach Barrett.

Kendall next visits Holley in a non league game at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Final G-R Standings: Attica 8-1-1, Holley 8-2, Wheatland-Chili 4-5-1, Kendall 4-6, Pembroke 3-7, Byron-Bergen/Elbs 2-8.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Kenzi Hapeman sends the ball up field as Wilson’s Lilly O’Lay comes in to defend. The action took place during Albion’s home field win over previously unbeaten Wilson this evening.

A lone first half goal proved to be just enough as Albion avenged an early season 3-1 loss by knocking Wilson from the ranks of the unbeaten 1-0 this evening in a key Niagara-Orleans League girls soccer game.

Abby Scanlan netted the lone goal for Albion midway though the first half as Sydney Mulka made 7 saves in the net for the Purple Eagles.

Improving to 6-3, the victory was the fifth in a row for the Purple Eagles after a 1-3 start to the season.

The loss drops Wilson to 8-1 and keeps runner-up Roy-Hart, a 3-0 victor over Newfane, in the thick of the title race at 6-2.

Roy-Hart will visit Wilson next Tuesday in the regular season finale needing a win to gain a share of the title. Wilson won the earlier season meeting with Roy-Hart 3-0.

Roy-Hart’s goals all came in the first half as Kara Choate scored off an assist from Nadia White, White scored from Choate and then Choate scored again from Ava Owens.

In the other N-O contest, Akron (3-5-1) downed Barker (0-9) 8-0 as Natalie Karmazyn scored 3 goals and Olivia Kreher 2.

Albion’s Aly Knaak works to advance the ball up field as Maddie Miller comes in to defend for Wilson.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Madison Gancasz knocks the ball away from Roy-Hart’s Claire Halstead during the host Lady Raiders shootout win this afternoon.

Setting set stage for a key first place showdown on Saturday, Barker nipped visiting Roy-Hart 2-1 in a shootout this afternoon in a key Niagara–Orleans League field hockey game.

Improving to 8-1, defending champion Barker will next visit front-running Akron at 10 a.m. Saturday in a key clash for the league lead. Akron blanked Wilson 7-0 this afternoon to stay undefeated at 10-0.

In the day’s other N-O contest, Kenmore (3-5-1) edged host Medina (2-6-2) 1-0.

Barker outscored Roy-Hart 4-2 in the shootout to claim the win.

Mia Herman, Natalie Bruning, Madison Gancasz and Lena Fazzolari scored the shootout goals for the Lady Raiders.

Barker goalie Courtney Hillman then made saves on Roy-Hart’s last two shooters to lock up the win.

Amanda Hill and Lexiss Diel scored goals for Roy-Hart in the shootout.

Roy-Hart grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second quarter on a goal by Miah Glena off an assist from Justine Laverty.

Barker rallied to tie the on test early in the fourth quarter on a goal by Ashlin Cole.

Roy-Hart is now 6-4-1.

Akron was led by Lacey Berghorn with 4 goals and Jenelle Kieffer with 2.

Roy-Hart’s Lexiss Diel and Barker’s Ella Gooding battle for control of the ball.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Madison Jacob sends the ball on a cross as Hayley Shaffer defends for Lyndonville/Medina during this evening’s Genesee Region League game at Vets Park.

A quick two goal scoring burst in the first 10 minutes ignited Kendall to a 7-1 victory over Lyndonville/Medina in a Genesee Region League girls soccer game this evening at Vets Park.

The Lady Eagles grabbed the quick 2-0 lead as Madison Jacob scored at 34:28 off an assist from Brianna Wakefield and then Wakefield scored at 30:33.

Kendall’s T’Mia Kitchings battles with Lyndonville/Medina’s Lily Joe Carpenter for control of the ball.

Midway through the half a goal by Regan VanDusen  from Angelia Aguirre at 19:53 upped the Kendall advantage to 3-0.

Ella Lewis interrupted with a goal for Lyndonville/Medina at the 16:16 mark but Kendall got that one back with interest before half-time.

Aguirre scored a goal at 13:03 and then assisted on a tally by Megan Gates with 2:36 remaining to give the Lady Eagles a commanding 5-1 lead at the half.

Kendall also had a fast finish with two goals in the final five minutes of the second half.

Alezya Brown tallied with 5:16 remaining and Grace Levett with 3:20 to go.

Kendall is now 4-4-1 and Lyndonville/Medina 2-8 in G-R action.

Holley 1, Oakfield-Alabama/Elba 1 (OT)

Holley battled to a 1-1 double overtime tie with host Oakfield-Alabama/Elba this evening in another G-R contest.

Halee Passarell scored Holley’s goal off an assist from Samantha Bates in the first half which ended tied at 1-1.

Holley is now 7-1-2 on the season.

Kendall’s trio of Megan Gates (5), Regan VanDusen (6) and Alezya Brown (15) work the ball up field.