South field hockey wins, loses close games

It was a mixed bag of results last week for Williamsville South field hockey.

The Lady Billies, 4-3-1 and ranked eighth in Western New York, lost to Hamburg, 4-3, in overtime on Sept. 17 and 1-0 against Iroquois last Friday. Sandwiched between the losses was a 1-0 home win over sixth-ranked Lancaster last Wednesday.

South built a 3-0 lead against Hamburg. Less than ten minutes into the game, Ali Ferenczy sent the ball to Lauren Falzone who scored. Three minutes later, Shannon Martin had the assist on another Falzone tally.

Minutes later, the official called a stroke against the Hamburg defense and Ali Ferenczy scored.

Hamburg fought back before halftime with two quick goals by Kelsey Vilanti to make the score 3-2. In the second half, Vilanti tied the game and Shelby Hall scored a minute into overtime to pick up the win.

South coach Mary Ferenczy said the loss was a tough life lesson.

"We are still a young team and have to learn from our mistakes," she said. "I'm thrilled about our ability to score three goals but we need to play the whole game with intensity."

It was a better day for South against Lancaster. The game was up and down the field with both teams having opportunities. In overtime, South forced

a corner situation. Ali Ferenczy fired the initial shot that was saved by the Lancaster goalie but the Lady Billies' kept up the intensity as Ashley

Ferenczy assisted Falzone for the winning goal. Falzone has nine goals on the season. It was the first game back for Ashley Ferenczy, who broke her nose last week in warm-ups. In addition, sophomore Kate Kurzanski had to shift to defense because senior defender Ali Liebel is out with a back problem.

Goalie Megan Hull was credited with her fifth shutout of the season.

South played Iroquois before a huge crowd on Friday. Iroquois dominated the first half as Hull made five saves and the South defense fought against six corner situations.

Scoreless at halftime, the Lady Billies' came out strong in the second half, but Iroquois' Rachel Sluberski scored at the 19:18 mark. Coach Ferenczy said her team rallied back with scoring opportunities, even forcing corners at the end of the game, but the Lady Chiefs held on for the victory.