Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Barker’s Katrina Clare, who scored three goals including the game winner in overtime, goes by East Rochester defenders Julia Michalski and Leah Griffin during the Lady Raiders Far West Regional victory this evening at Penfield High School.

Making it three straight dramatic come-from-behind playoff victories, Barker outlasted East Rochester 4-3 in overtime in the Class C field hockey Far West Regional this evening at Penfield High School.

Katrina Clare scored her third goal of the evening with just 1:30 remaining in the first 10 minute 7 on 7 overtime period to give Barker the thrilling victory and earn the Lady Raiders a trip to the state semifinals.

“Katrina put the team on her back,” said Barker Coach Jeff Costello whose Lady Raiders had to come-from-behind twice. “They just didn’t give up. They battled back first from being two goals down and then from being one down. They just never give up.”

Barker co-captains Katrina Clare and Ciara Gregoire and Coach Jeff Costello hold up the regional championship trophy.

East Rochester jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as Abby Weltman scored just six minutes in and then Emily Brock tallied with 12 minutes to go in the half.

Barker though came battling back.

The Lady Raiders first cut the deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Kaedynce Schumacher with 7:55 to go in the first half and then pulled even on a tally by Clare just 4:35 into the second half.

East Rochester quickly regained the lead at 3-2 when Welman scored just half a minute later.

However, Barker again answered the challenge as Clare retied the suddenly wild contest at 3-3 by scoring with 17:31 remaining.

Neither team could find the net again in regulation time though Barker put good pressure on in the final two minutes.

That set the stage for Barker’s third straight dramatic playoff win in a row when Clare scored with just 1:30 to go in the first overtime period, her 30th goal of the season.

The comeback was similar to Barker’s 3-2 win over Niagara-Orleans League rival Akron in the Section VI Class C semifinal when the Lady Raiders rallied from a 2-0 half-time deficit to nip the Lady Tigers in overtime.

Barker then needed a goal in the final 20 seconds by Natalie Bruning to nip Eden 2-1 in the Section VI Class C title contest.

Barker will now face the winner of the Long Island Regional (either Pierson of Section 11 or Carle Place of Section 8) in the state semifinals at 3 p.m. next Saturday at Williamsville North.

Barker’s Ciara Gregoire tries for a shot on goal as Lena Fazzolari supports.

Barker’s Kaedynce Schumacher tries to get around East Rochester defender Frankie Puglisi.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Hailee Mitchell, who scored the game’s lone goal, brings the ball up field against North Collins defender Rebecca Holmes during the Eagles Eagles thrilling Far West Regional victory this evening at Webster Thomas.

Relentless pressure finally paid off as Kendall scored in the final three minutes to nip North Collins 1-0 in the girls soccer Class D Far West Regional this evening at Webster Thomas High School.

Hailee Mitchell scored with just 3:48 remaining to cap off Kendall’s furious barrage of shots and propel the Lady Eagles into the state semifinals for the first time since 2003.

Kendall Coach Pam Barchett and team captains Lizzy Sutphen, Hailee Mitchell and Brianna Wakefield proudly hold the regional championship trophy high.

“We just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and didn’t give up,” said Kendall Coach Pam Barchett who was a starting defender on the Lady Eagles 2003 state semi team. “All the credit though to their goalie. She just did an outstanding job. We put some 20 shots on her but she was outstanding. We just kept putting the shots on though and finally got one in. We just kept working together.”

Kendall goalie Katherine Pearson, who made 10 saves, anchored the Lady Eagles defensive unit. She made two big saves down the stretch before the Lady Eagles scored the game winner.

Kendall peppered the North Collins net with over a dozen shots in the second half with three sailing just wide and another bouncing off the cross bar before Mitchell connected for her  team leading 27th goal of the season.

Improving to 16-5, Kendall next faces Cincinnatus from Section III in the Class D state semifinals at 12:30 p.m. next Saturday at Homer High School. Cincinnatus downed Downsville from Section IV 1-0 in the Central Regional.

Kendall advanced to the regional by defeating Hinsdale 2-0 to claim the Section V Class D title while North Collins blanked Franklinville 3-0 for the Section VI crown.

Kendall’s Brianna Wakefield looks to work around North Collins defenders Robin Hidy and Kyrstin Lehnortt.

The Kendall duo of Lizzy Woodams and Alezya Brown work to keep the ball away from North Collins’ Hailey Jasinski.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Kendal players and coaches, shown here after Tuesday’s state qualifier victory, will next take on North Collins in the Far West Regional on Saturday.

Entering state level competition for the first time in 15 years, Section V Class D champion Kendall will take on Section VI champion North Collins in the girls soccer Far West Regionals at Webster Thomas High School at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Kendall, which earned a state berth for the first time since 2003 by blanking Hinsdale 2-0 Tuesday in the Section V Class D qualifier at Fillmore. North Collins downed Franklinville 3-0 to claim the Section VI Class D title.

“We are so excited that we won our State Qualifier Match. This is the 1st time in 15 years that Kendall has reached this point.” said Coach Pam Barchet   “This team is so young and driven. It is such a joy to be working with this group of athletes.   We started the season 1-3, and we decided that was not how the rest of our season was going to go.  The team knew that they would have their work cut out for them (especially being so young), but their positive energy and work ethic has really propelled them to surpass all of our expectations for the season!”

Interestingly, Barchet was a starting defender as a junior on Kendall’s 2003 team which defeated Allegany-Limestone from Section VI 3-1 in the Far West Regional but then lost 3-2 to Elmira Notre Dame from sEction IV in the state semifinals.

“The 2003 team was a more experienced group, comprised of mostly juniors and seniors.   Although this year’s team is younger, they make up for their limited experience in their passion for the game and their unwillingness to give up.” said Barchet  “As an athlete in 2003, I don’t think I really acknowledged the accomplishment of making it to the State tournament; we were just a bunch of girls doing what we loved.  Now, as a coach, I really want the girls to see how much they have achieved and how far they can go.  They are still young athletes, doing what they love, but I want them to be proud of all they have accomplished because it really is quite an achievement!”

Junior Hailee Mitchell has led the Kendall attack with 26 goals as freshman Grace Levett has 11, sophomore Brianna Wakefield and freshman Alezya Brown 9 each and sophomore Lizzy Woodams 6.

“In looking forward to our next match (Far West Regional Match). We definitely need to continue to push the pace in our possession game,” said Barchet  “We play our best soccer when we are possessing the ball and connecting short passes and work up the field together.  Our game yesterday was a really good showing of our possession game.   A key for our success on Saturday will be scoring early (as we have done in the past 2 games) and finishing on our scoring opportunities.  We had many chances in the first 20 minutes in the Class D play-down match, but we had a hard time finishing.”

Junior goalie Katherine Pearson, who had 14 saves in the shutout win over Hinsdale and center defender junior Lizzy Sutphen anchor the defense for Kendall which has allowed only two goals in four playoff games.

“Defensively, I’m very happy with the way my team has continued to minimize the attacking presences of our opponents.” said Barchet.  “Central Defender Lizzie Sutphen and Goalie Katie Pearson do an excellent job of organizing the team and making sure that everyone is marked in the defensive end of the field.   As long as the defense stays organized and communicate with one another, they will have the best chance of shutting down the other team’s attack.”

North Collins, which is 6-10-1, has been led in scoring by senior Emily Winter with 10 goals as senior Destiny Neamon has 7 and junior Rebecca Holmes 5.

The victor will advance to the state semifinals on November 10 at Homer, N.Y. near Cortland.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Barker players celebrate after a last second goal earned the Lady Raiders a Class C champion win over Eden at rainy Williamsville North this evening.

Showing plenty of flare for the dramatic, top seeded Barker scored in the final seconds to nip No. 3 Eden 2-1 in the Section VI Class C field hockey championship game this evening at rain soaked Williamsville North High School.

Sophomore Natalie Bruning scored her seventh goal of the season with only 20 seconds remaining to give Barker the thrilling victory and send the Lady Raiders into the state playoffs.

“We’re ecstatic. We’re going to the regionals,” exclaimed Barker Coach Jeff Costello whose Lady Raiders will now face East Rochester in the Far West Regional at 7 p.m. Saturday at Penfield High School.

Barker co-captains Katrina Clare, left, and Ciara Gregoire proudly display the sectional championship plaque.

Barker, which had to rally from a 2-0 half-time deficit to nip Niagara-Orleans League rival Akron 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals, had to come from behind in the second half again as Eden took a 1-0 lead when Lydia Kobie scored with just two minutes to go in the first half.

With a heavy downpour pelting the artificial turf, Barker turned up the pressure in the second half putting putting half a dozen shots on the Eden net but it still remained a 1-0 game with less than 15 minutes to go.

Finally Barker was rewarded for keeping that steady pressure on. The Lady Raiders pulled even when junior Katrina Clare scored her team leading 27th goal of the season on a line drive shot from straight away with 14:50 remaining.

“They just never give up,” said Costello. “They kept peppering their net with shots. We were all over them and once we got that one I knew we could get another.”

The sectional title is the 13th in the last 17 years for Barker which improves to 16-3 overall while Eden finishes the season at 11-6-2.

Barker’s Katrina Clare advances the ball up field in the rain against Eden’s Dani Thompson.

With the heavy rain pouring down Barker’s Madison Gancasz works around Eden defender Rachel Wach.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall goalie Katherine Pearson stops a shot as Hinsdale’s Ashley Chapman looks for a rebound. The action took place during the Lady Eagles state qualifier victory over the Bobcats this evening at Fillmore.

A lightning quick goal in the first three minutes ignited Kendall to a 2-0 victory over Hinsdale in the Section V Class D girls soccer state qualifier game this evening at Fillmore.

Kendall, which last qualified for the state tournament in 2003, will face Section VI champion North Collins in the Far West Regional at 5 p.m. Saturday at Webster Thomas High School.

The Lady Eagles wasted little time in getting on to the scoreboard as Lizzy Woodams netted her 6th goal of the season just 3:20 into the game.

Kendall’s Brianna Wakefield brings the ball up field as Elizabeth Przybyla defends for Hinsdale.

“We peppered them with shots early so it was just a matter of time before we got one and that one really set the pace of the game for us,” said Kendall Coach Pam Barchet.

Kendall goalie Katherine Pearson, center defender Lizzy Sutphen and their defensive mates did the rest in registering the shutout.

Pearson, who had a total of 14 saves on the evening. made one big save early on a Hinsdale direct kick and then had a busy second half making some 10 saves. Sutphen repeatedly cleared the ball out of the Kendall defensive end helping to set up the Lady Eagles attack.

“Our defense did a fantastic job,” said Barchet. “It was a whole team effort.”

The Lady Eagles, which controlled play for mush of the evening, especially in the first half, finally opened up a little breathing room when Brianna Wakefield scored her 9th goal of the season with 15:16 to go in the second half.

Kendall, which advanced to the qualifier by defeating Fillmore 2-1 for the Class D1 title, improves to 15-5.

Hinsdale, which finishes the season at 15-5, advanced by downing Andover 4-2 for the Class D2 crown.

Kendall’s Hailee Mitchell looks to send the ball up field as Lindsey Veno defends for Hinsdale.