N-O rivals Akron and Barker to meet again for Class C field hockey crown

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Akron and Barker will renew their rivalry for the Section VI Class C field hockey championship for the fourth year in a row on Wednesday. Akron’s Kayla Wdowka and Barker’s Haleigh Mason are shown here battling for control of the ball during a recent regular season meeting between the teams.

Perennial Niagara-Orleans League field hockey title contenders Akron and Barker are also perennial Section VI Class C title contenders as the Lady Tigers and Lady Raiders will meet for the crown for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last nine years at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Williamsville North.

Akron is seeded No. 1 and Barker No. 2 as the result of a coin flip after  the teams finished the N-O season as co-champions with identical 11-1 records having split a pair of 2-1 decisions.

Both teams advanced to the finals with one goal wins in the semis, Akron 1-0 over No. 4 Holland and Barker 2-1 over No. 3 Roy-Hart.

Barker scored a narrow 1-0 win in a shootout in last year’s Class C title contest to avenge a 3-1 loss to Akron in the 2015 final.  The Lady Raiders in fact have taken 7 of those last 8 title meetings with the Lady Tigers and have captured the sectional crown 12 of the last 15 years.

Barker has featured a balanced attack this season with six players having scored at least 5 goals including Katrina Clare (12 goals 2 assists), Ciara Gregoire (9g, 4a), Natalie Menz (8g, 10a), Lena Fazzolari (6g, 2a), Rachel Hurtgam (5g, 2a) and Casey A’Hearn (5g, 1a).

The Akron attack has been led by the trio of Abby Stone (17g, 9a), Rebecca Breymeier (14g) and Alexis Bell (13g).