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Ranked East fares well in league games
The Lady Flames, ranked No. 1 in Western New York, third in New York State Class A and seventh in Region II of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, shut out rival Williamsville South 2-0 last Tuesday, blanked Iroquois 3-0 on Thursday and closed out the week on Friday with a 4-1 victory over West Seneca East. "I thought we played our best three games in a row in the division," said East coach Chris Durr. Lady Flames' senior forward Jessica Kowalski opened the scoring against South with an unassisted goal 22 minutes into the first half on a free kick.
"It was a great all-around effort," said Durr. "We've talked to her about being a little more unselfish with the ball and putting the team on her back when we're not scoring as many goals during a game." Durr said his team had plenty of scoring chances in the first half but missed the net a couple of times. "It was frustrating because we weren't taking advantage of our scoring opportunities," added Durr. "They beat us to the ball in some situations." East's defense held South to two shots on goal for the entire game. Junior Josephine Bochiechio recorded the shutout. The Iroquois game went scoreless until 16 minutes into the second half when junior midfielder/ forward Tara Kiernan scored from sophomore defender Jordan Kowalski and Jessica Kowalski. "Jessica sent a through ball to Tara, who went to the left of the goal and ripped a shot past the goalie near the post," said Durr. "When Tara scored, it was a huge sigh of relief." Six minutes later, Jenny Griffin sent a through ball to Jessica Kowalski on a mini-breakaway from 18 yards out. Kowalski touched the ball once before knocking it past the Iroquois goalie. Three minutes later, sophomore midfielder Katie Griffin was taken down in the box. and big sister Jenny scored on a penalty kick. Bochiechio made nine saves for another shutout. Her biggest stop came 15 minutes into the first half when she dove and tipped away a would-be goal to the right corner of the net. The East win not only improved the Lady Flames to 6-0 in league play but also gave Iroquois (5-1) its first loss of the season. "The win was a real confidence booster for the rest of the year," said Durr. The only blemish to East's week was allowing a goal against West Seneca East. It was the first time the Lady Flames had given up a goal against a Section VI opponent. Section V's Wayne and Pittsford Mendon each scored once in nonleague games; Wayne's was on a penalty kick. Sophomore midfielder Kayla Acklin scored 12 minutes into the first half on a cross from sophomore Kelly McNamara and Kiernan. Forward Becky Fedak, a freshman JV call-up, made it 2-0 four minutes later when she took a cross from Jenny Griffin and knocked it off the near post and into the net. Sophomore Becca Rumschik also assisted. Fedak was called up because Jessica Kowalski turned an ankle against Iroquois. West Seneca East scored its goal at the 19-minute mark of the first half. The goal scorer's identity was not available before press time. "We were playing so well that to give one up to West Seneca East was frustrating," said Durr. "It showed we have to play tight defense against everybody in the league." Two minutes later, Jenny Griffin tallied from Jordan Kowalski. Lauren Lapoint closed out the scoring from Katie Griffin and McNamara at the 48-minute mark of the first half. Bochiechio made four saves. East (10-0-1, 7-0) plays at Sweet Home on Wednesday and hosts Lake Shore on Friday. Both are 4:30 p.m. starts. East beat Sweet Home 4-0 on Sept. 17 and Lake Shore 7-0 on Sept. 19. Jenny Griffin leads all East scorers with 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) followed by Jessica Kowalski (eight goals, five assists) and Kiernan (five goals, five assists). The East varsity team isn't the only Lady Flames' squad having success. The JV girls soccer team is 9-2; the modified is 5-0. Williamsville South Besides the East loss, the Lady Billies split their other two league games. South defeated Lake Shore 2-0 last Thursday and lost 2-1 to Hamburg on Saturday. South coach Kevin McNamara said his team had a lot of scoring chances against Lake Shore. Junior forward Emily Novak made it 1-0 15 minutes into the first half on an assist by junior Alex Ciolko. Junior midfielder Meghan Couche scored South's second goal from Novak 10 minutes into the second half. "We really dominated," said Mc- Namara. "I was happy with the way we played. We possessed the ball well, and they didn't have too many scoring opportunities." Senior goalie Alyssa Ashcroft recorded four saves for the shutout. Even though South lost against Hamburg, McNamara was pleased with how his team played. "Our ball possession was the best it has been all year," said McNamara. "We didn't create lot of scoring opportunities in the final third of the game, but the majority of the time we were possessing the ball." Ciolko, who was moved from defense to forward, scored South's only goal at the 10-minute mark of the first half from outside midfielder Ellie Falletta. Hamburg tied the game right before halftime and scored the go-ahead goal with 20 minutes to play. South (4-5, 4-4) beat Sweet Home 3-0 on Monday. They travel to Iroquois at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and host West Seneca East at 4:45 p.m. Friday. "I was happy with the Lake Shore and Hamburg games," said McNamara. "The girls are starting to understand what is needed to win games. Even though we lost against Hamburg, we're playing better soccer and for me, that's what is important right now." e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com |
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