East earns important non-league tie
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

A 1-1 tie in a non-league girls soccer game may not mean a lot for some teams, but for Williamsville East, it meant everything.

The Lady Flames tied Section V powerhouse Pittsford Mendon, 1-1, last Saturday at the North French Soccer Complex.

Pittsford Mendon played East tough for the first eight minutes of the first half before Lady Flame Kendra Durden scored at the 12-minute mark from a Jordan Kowalski free kick.

"Jordan took a free kick from forty-five yards out, it hit the far post, bounced once and Kendra used a right foot volley to send it into the back corner of the net fourteen yards away," said East coach Chris Durr.

East took a 1-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, Pittsford Mendon, which had lost the previous night to Victor, 1-0, turned up the pressure.

"From the twenty-five minute mark and on, they dominated the rest of the game," Durr said. "They were getting a lot of loose balls and we were starting to get a little tired."

Pittsford Mendon's best player, Alyse Dicenzo, beat East goalie Josephine Bochiechio on a one on one to tie the game with 14 minutes remaining in the second half. Bochiecho finished with 11 saves.

"She played well," said Durr. "She had a couple of excellent saves on some free kicks in the first half."

East had eight shots on goal. Durr said his team missed a couple of corner kick head and volley opportunities in the first half which if any went in, would have made the second half a lot different.

Durr lauded the play of defenders Neha Bakhai, Morgan Begy and Kristen Saviola and midfielders Tara Kiernan and Jenny Griffin.

East (2-0-1) played West Seneca East on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Clarence at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com