Medina/Lyndonville, Albion booters win to advance to sectional semi showdown
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – James Ianni (10) does a header for Medina/Lyndonville against Alden’s Conrad Boucher (19) during the Mustangs Class B1 quarterfinal round win over the Bulldogs this afternoon at Vets Park.
Settiing the stage for a semifinal round rivalry showdown, Medina/Lyndonville and Albion both scored narrow one goal victories this afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B1 boys soccer playoffs.
No. 3 seed Medina/Lyndonville made a lone first half goal stand up for a narrow 1-0 victory over No. 6 Alden at Vets Park and No. 10 Albion upended No. 2 Bennett 2-1 in double overtime at Buffalo’s All High Stadium.
Medina/Lyndonville and Albion will now meet in the B1 semifinals on Saturday at Hamburg High School at 5 p.m. The Mustangs downed the Purple Eagles twice during the regular season by scores of 4-2 and 3-1 in route to capturing the Niagara-Orleans League championship.
Medina/Lyndonville 1, Alden 0
Brian Anderson’s team leading 16th goal of the season with 16:34 to go in the first half, off an assist from Steven Anderson, provided the margin of victory for Medina/Lyndonville over Alden as goalie Justin Morgan and his defensive teammates did the rest to notch the shutout.
“It was what we expected. Every game in sectionals will be tight like that,” said Medina/Lyndonville Coach Steve Luksch. “Our defense came up big for us.”
Alden goalie Brian Long made several huge saves to keep the Bulldogs in the game.
Defending Class B1 champion Medina/Lyndonville advances to the semis with a 13-3-1 record.
Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina/Lyndonville’s Kristian Snyder (8) brings the ball up field against Alden’s Jack Merritt.
Albion 2, Bennett 1 (2OT)
A goal by Connor McQuillan at 11:08 of the second overtime period, off an assist from Marcos Sanchez, lifted Albion past Bennett.
Albion had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half as Jacoby Miller tallied off an assist from Sanchez but Bennett battled back with a second half goal to knot the contest.
“They were fast and our defense really had to play with their backs to the wall but they played hard and did the job,” said Albion Coach Keith Akers. “It was a gutty performance.”
Morgan Seielstad and Devin Gaylord shared in the goaltending duties for Albion which also got strong defensive efforts from Nick Reed and Jacob Leggat.
Newfane 3, Tonawanda 2
Trevor Moreland scored two goals and Jon George one to lead No. 4 seed Newfane to the narrow 3-2 win over No. 5 Tonawanda as the Panthers became the third N-O team to advance to the Class B1 semifinals and will face top seeded East Aurora Saturday at Hamburg at 7:30 p.m.
