East earns 5-0 shutouts over league foes

Williamsville East's varsity boys soccer team improved to 12-1-1 overall and 9-1 in ECIC Division II with 5-0 shutouts over West Seneca West and Lake Shore, last Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

Against West Seneca West, Kevin Castine put a low shot to the left side of the goal 20 minutes into the game to give East a 1-0 lead. Colin Begy assisted.

East coach Ron Schumacher had several other scoring chances in the first half that were not successful.

"We controlled the game but West Seneca West held strong," said Schumacher.

Playing more aggressively in the second half, East pressured the West Seneca West defense. Derek Frost made a move into the 18-yard box and was taken down. Begy scored on the penalty kick to give East a two-goal lead.

Seven minutes later, Dave Mernan passed the ball to Begy, whose hard shot to the left corner of the goal deflected off a defender, behind the goalie and into the net. It was Begy's second tally of the game.

At the 27-minute mark, a dead ball kicked into the goal area bounced off the goalie and Mernan sent it into the back of the net. Mernan later took a ball deep to the left corner and crossed it to the far post, where Trevor Igoe headed the ball into the net.

"His play has greatly improved this season," said Schumacher of Mernan.

Schumacher said the whole team played well with nonstarters making contributions.

"It is good to see that subs come in, play hard and contribute to the success of the team," said Schumacher. "We are a unit of 23 good players that have been having a season of fun."

Schumacher said one of the most enjoyable games to watch was against Lake Shore. "It was a clean, well-played game for both teams," said Schumacher.

Begy scored 6.5 minutes into the game on a nice pass from Mac Noronha. As with West Seneca West, East controlled the game, but the much-improved Lake Shore defense held strong, pulling offside traps on East's forwards.

The Flames got into their rhythm in the second half when Park scored two goals, both assisted by Castine. An accurate pass to the foot of Park allowed him to get a strong shot off on his first goal. His second goal was a nice deflection from a shot by Castine.

Matt Kweller also placed a hard shot into the upper corner of the net as Castine made a good pass to Kweller breaking in on goal. Junior Greg Ryan scored his first tally of the season as he put a ball from defender Fred Frandina Brown into the net for the team's fifth goal.

East, ranked second in Western New York large schools, played at top-ranked North on Tuesday, but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. East plays at 4:45 p.m. on Friday at fifth-ranked Iroquois.