East girls soccer shuts out league opponents
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East improved to 9-0 in ECIC Division II play with shutout victories last week over league opponents, Iroquois, 4-0, West Seneca East, 2-0, and Lake Shore, 2-0. The Lady Flames, ranked No. 2 in New York State Class A and No. 1 in Western New York, is 13-0 overall.

East coach Chris Durr said the Iroquois win on Oct. 3 was basically for the division title.

"Their only loss in the division was to us so if we were to lose them, the best we could do would be, if we both won out, tied," said Durr. "Hamburg is 4-2-1 and Williamsville South is 4-3-1."

Rachel Piemonte opened the East scoring 16 minutes into the game from Christa Morgante and Jenny Griffin. Jessica Kowalski scored four minutes later from Piemonte and Tara Kiernan and again with six minutes left in the half from Griffin. Piemonte, the league's leading scorer with 16 goals, left halfway through the game with a pulled quad muscle which kept her out of the West Seneca East and Lake Shore games. Her status for this week, which included a game Tuesday at North Tonawanda, a home match with South on Friday and road game at Clarence on Saturday, is uncertain.

Griffin made it 4-0 over Iroquois 16 minutes into the second half from Alex Lima.

East goalie Molly Bojanek finished with six saves but had a couple key stops in the last 15 minutes, one on a through-ball that was shot near the post that she tipped over the cross bar and another from a one-handed stop on a deflection. Durr said Iroquois goalie Lindsay Henry made 15 saves.

"I think the girls realized we could see them again in the playoffs," said Durr. "To go up 3-0 at halftime and score three nice goals was key for us. The whole team played with a renewed energy. We were starting to get, not a complacent attitude but a 'ho hum, another win', so to speak."

The loss of Piemonte was apparent early against West Seneca East. Durr said the Lady Trojans came fired up and his squad was flat.

"We had numerous chances in the first half to score but missed the net or didn't get a good shot," said Durr. "Piemonte tweaking her quad in the Iroquois game hurt us scoring wise but I give West Seneca East credit. They played a great game for us. They pushed us around a little and played some long ball against us."

The game was scoreless until six minutes into the second half when Jenny Griffin scored on the short side 20 yards out from her younger sister, Katie. Morgante added a left-footed shot 19 minutes later from 30 yards into the top corner on an assist from Aleks Quenneville.

"Once we got the second goal in, it was really over for them," said Durr.

Bojanek made five saves and stopped a breakaway on the short side in the first half.

Kendra Durden scored the first two goals against Lake Shore at the 14- and 16-minute mark of the first half. Beth Kaiser and Jenny Griffin assisted her first goal; Katie Griffin and Kowalski helped on her second.

"On both of them, she was in the right spot at the right time," said Durr. "Jenny Grffin

dropped it back to Beth Kaiser who crossed it to the far post and Kendra was right there to put it in. The second was also a ball that was crossed and Kendra took a couple touches and knocked it by the goalie."

Three minutes later, Jenny Griffin took a pass from younger sister Katie, dribbled around three players and scored from 15 yards out. Kowalski made it 4-0 at the 35-minute mark on a left-footed shot from a Quenneville cross.

Quenneville (Jenny Griffin, Morgan Begy) scored three minutes into the second half. Jenny Berger, from Begy and Neha Bakhai, on a corner kick from Katie Griffin and Alex Lima, scored their varsity goals to close out the scoring.

Bojanek made three saves for her ninth shutout. She has allowed only four goals all season.

Kowalski is second in the league in goals scored with 11. Jenny Griffin is tied for third with 10. She also has 16 assists.

The East JV is 12-1, including 12 straight wins.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com