Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker players and coaches, shown here celebrating after Tuesday’s Section VI Class C championship win, will now face East Rochester in the Far West Regional at 11 a.m. Saturday at Williamsville North.

Fresh from capturing a second straight Section VI Class C field hockey title, Barker will next face a very familiar foe in the Far West Regional as the Lady Raiders take on Section V representative East Rochester at 11 a.m. Saturday at Williamsville North.

This is the 15th time since 2001 that Barker has advanced to the regionals and the Lady Raiders opponent every time has been East Rochester which is the lone Section V Class C field hockey team.

Barker nipped East Rochester 4-3 in overtime last year and the Lady Raiders hold a 4-3 edge over the Lady Bombers in meetings since 2010. However, overall ER holds a 10-4 advantage in the 14 meetings since 2001.

Saturday’s victor will advance to the state semifinals against the winner of the Taconic Hills (Section IX) vs. Bronxville (Section 1) regional. The state semis and finals will also be held at Williamsville North on Nov. 16 and 17.

Barker, which brings a 16-3 record into the regional, has advanced by posting three straight shutout wins in the Section VI playoffs. The top seeded Lady Raiders blanked No. 8 Newfane 6-0 in the quarterfinals, No. 4 Roy-Hart 2-0 in the semifinals and No. 6 Eden 4-0 in the championship game.

Offensively the Lady Raiders have been led by Katrina Clare with 18 goals and 17 assists, Ciara Gregoire (15-2) and Rachel Hurtgam (11-7). Ginger Alexander has added 9 goals, Emily Wagner 6, Madison Gancasz, Natalie Bruning and Ella Gooding 4 each, Serena Harris 3, Ella Fox 2 and Lena Fazzolari and Brianna Bachman 1 each.

Contributed Photos – Local swimmers, from left, Brianna McMullen, Carlitos Sanchez and Ashton Laird helped Genesee Community College earn a split in Wednesday’s season opening meet.

A trio of local athletes including Carlitos Sanchez from Albion and Brianna McMullen and Ashton Laird from Medina helped the Genesee Community College swim team earn a split in a season opening tri-meet Wednesday at Erie Community College.

GCC downed ECC but lost to Monroe Community College.

In the men’s competition, Sanchez won the 50 Free and 100 Butterfly and was a member of the winning 400 Free Relay team.

In the women’s competition, McMullen placed second in both the 50 Free and 100 Free and Laird second in the Backstroke and third in the Individual Medley. They were also both members of the Medley Relay team which placed second.

Contributed Photos – Gasport native and Roy-Hart graduate Aaron Berner, shown here during a previous race, is in Sweden this week to compete in the Spartan Ultra Race World Championships.

The Buffalo Sabres are not the only area athletes competing in Sweden this week as Gasport native and Roy-Hart graduate Aaron Berner is in Are, Sweden  to compete in the Spartan Ultra Race World Championships which will be held on Saturday.

The 50 kilometer race (approximately 31 miles) includes five loops up and down a 2,000 foot mountain with some 20 to 25 obstacles per lap.

Berner, 39, who has been competing in the Spartan races for a number of years, was selected to compete in the World Championship race based on his high finish in another Ultra race.

Berner is a 1998 Roy-Hart graduate and a 2000 Alfred State grad. He was a member of the Roy-Hart cross-country and track teams and was on Alfred State’s cross country team in 1998.

He resides in Lockport with his wife Jenny and children Jacob and Owen who also compete in Spartan kids races. The entire family is in Sweden for this grueling race.

The Sabres are in Sweden for two games this weekend against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Berner is shown going under one of the obstacles during a previous Ultra race.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – This Albion senior quintet of, from left, Michael DiCureia, Brillance Johnson, Tyray White, Thomas Furmanski and Cody Wilson and their Purple Eagles teammates will face WNY Maritime in the Section VI Class B championship game at 5 p.m. Friday at New Era Field.

It’s been 17 years since Albion has advanced to the sectional final and the No. 3 seed Purple Eagles will face a challenging foe in top seeded WNY Maritime for the Section VI Class B championship at New Era Field at 5 p.m. Friday.

Maritime, which is 8-1 on the season, has advanced to the title contest with a pair of lopsided wins, 36-12 over No. 8 Iroquois in the quarterfinals and 42-7 over No. 5 Pioneer in the semifinals.

Albion, which is also at 8-1, has earned its first berth in the title game since 2002 with a pair of close wins 17-14 over No. 6 Tonawanda in the quarterfinals and 21-14 over No. 7 Olean in the semis.

“It will be a cool experience,” said Albion Coach Adam Krenning. “Maritime is a very good team. It is a great opportunity for our team.”

Maritime’s ground oriented attack, which has picked up 2,756 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns on the season, is led by the junior trio of Marvin Royster (932 yards, 7 TDs), Mekhi Bridgers (655 yds., 7 TDs) and Jion Washington (387 yds., 6 TDs).

“They like to run the ball so we have got to be able to control the ball,” said Krenning.

Maritime’s sophomore quarterback Reuben Hampton has thrown for 644 yards and 9 touchdowns. His primary receivers are sophomores Addison Copeland (10 catches for 171 yards and 3 TDs)  and Demetrius Potts (4 catches for 160 yards and 3 TDs).

Senior quarterback Thomas Furmanski who has passed for 10 touchdowns, run for 4 and kicked 2 field goals leads the Albion offense.

Kevin Hillman has caught 6 of those TD aerials, Chris Shabazz 2 and Anthony Freeman and Tyler Gibson 1 each. Shabazz has also returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Hillman has returned a fumble recovery for a score.

On the ground, the Purple Eagles have Tyray White with 9 rushing touchdowns, Brillance Johnson 6 and Deyonci Farley 4.

This will be the first meeting between Albion and Maritime which is in just its second year of varsity competition.

The teams have had only one common opponent this season and that was Medina/Lyndonville/Barker. Maritime scored a 38-14 victory and Albion a 23-6 win over the Mustangs.

The victor will advance to the Far West Regional against the Section V Class B champion either Honeoye Falls-Lima  or Livonia.

The Tri County Midget Yellow squad downed the Tri County Midget Green team 7-3 this evening in the Empire Amateur Hockey League season opener.

The Yellow squad scored three goals in the opening period, two by John Pilon and one by Cory Granby.

Cam Smith and Zach Gietner then scored in the second period for the Yellow squad which capped off the win with third period goals by Jake Esposito and Chase Froman.

Carson Bader had two goals and an assist for the Green team.

The Tri County Yellow squad will next compete in a tournament in Cleveland, Ohio this weekend.

Contributed Photo – Mike Hughson picks up yardage for Albion during the Purple Eagles 15-8 win over Salamanca in the 1987 championship game at then Rich Stadium, now New Era Field.

When Albion takes to the New Era Field turf late Friday afternoon to face WNY Maritime it will mark the Purple Eagles 11th championship game appearance at the stadium in the 40 year history of the Section VI football playoffs.

The Purple Eagles long history at the stadium began with the inaugural sectionals in 1979 when Albion rallied to nip Springville 13-12. Dan Monacelli caught a 78 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jeff Klips in the third quarter and then kicked the extra point for the margin of victory. Monacelli then locked up the narrow win with a late game interception.

Albion went on to claim sectional championships three more times over the next eight years defeating Frewsburg 49-14 in 1981, Silver Creek 35-6 in 1983 and Salamanca 15-8 in 1987.

In the romp over Frewsburg sophomore quarterback Ken Burke threw four touchdown passes including three to David Austin and one to Ken McNeil. McNeil also ran for two touchdowns and Austin one.

Interestingly the Frewsburg lineup included future Penn St. and Buffalo Bills star linebacker Shane Conlan.

In the victory over Silver Creek now senior quarterback Ken Burke had another big day again throwing for four touchdown passes including two to Dan Bartlett and one each to Jason Zicari and Ron Klatt. He also ran for one TD.

Albion then had a narrow win over Salamanca. Quarterback Bill Mitchell completed a 38 yard touchdown pass to Ray Callicutt and Kurt Jaeger added the extra point kick in the first quarter. The Purple Eagles got what proved to be the game winning score in the fourth quarter on an 8 yard touchdown run by Bray Nauden and a two-point conversion pass from Mitchell to Mike Hughson.

Albion’s title game win streak was then ended in 1988 by rival Medina as the Mustangs claimed a narrow 14-7 win on a pair of touchdown runs by Jim Snyder. Chris Rogers scored the Purple Eagles touchdown.

The 1990’s saw Albion drop narrow decisions in three trips to the stadium losing 27-26 to Williamsville South in 1990, 21-12 to Lackawanna in 1993 and 28-21 to Springville in 1996.

Deadlocked at 14-14, Will South outscored Albion 13-12 in the decisive fourth quarter to claim the slender win. Albion quarterback Brad Pritchard ran for one touchdown and passed to Ray Callicutt for another. Callicutt also ran for a TD and caught a pass from Lee Froman for another.

Lackawanna built up a 21-6 first half lead to key the ’93 win over Albion. The Purple Eagles touchdowns came on a run by Ocie Bennett and a pass from quarterback Kevin Babcock to Brent Leddon.

Against Springville, Albion rallied for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter but the comeback bid fell just short. Quarterback Peter Smith ran for two touchdowns and passed to Shawn Callicutt for another for the Purple Eagles.

Interestingly, it took a wild 35-28 overtime semifinal win over Lackawanna to earn Albion a trip to the finals. Demetrius Bennett ran for the winning TD in overtime.  Bennett ran for a total of three scores and Smith passed to Callicutt for two more.

The dawn of the new century saw Albion drop a 41-19 decision to Lackawanna in 2000. Brandon Munson scored two touchdowns for the Purple Eagles, the first coming on an 83 yard kickoff return in the opening quarter. Quarterback Tony Mayes ran for the other TD.

Albion’s last stadium appearance in 2002 saw the Purple Eagles drop a narrow 14-6 decision to Olean.  Bubba Newsome scored Albion’s lone touchdown.

The Purple Eagles will now end that 17 year drought between stadium appearances and will also look to end that 32 year title game victory drought when they face Maritime at 5 p.m. Friday in the Class B championship game.

Legion downed Sacred Heart 39-31 Monday to extend its Medina Euchre League to 11 points.

JR Wilson bested Vets Club 41-29 in the other match.

Legion is now 192-158, Sacred Heart 181-169, JR Wilson 176-174 and Vets Club 151-199.

Legion will next visit Sacred Heart in a rematch on November 11 while JR Wilson hosts Vets Club.

Top seeded Akron defeated No. 5 Fredonia 25-16, 25-20, 25-15 in the semifinal round of the Section VI Class C1 volleyball playoffs this evening.

Madison Kaczmerak had 9 kills and 7 blocks, Elsie Logan 3 kills and 6 aces and Jesse Jonathan 3 kills and 17 assists for the Lady Tigers.

Akron will now face No. 2 seed Eden in the C1 finals on Wednesday. Eden downed No. 6 Southwestern 25-10, 25-18, 25-12 in the other semi.