Lady Spartans march into postseason undefeated
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

"Unstoppable" is the only way to describe Williamsville North's field hockey team so far this season.

The Lady Spartans head into the Class "A" playoffs with a 16-0 record, marking the second time in school history they've gone undefeated in a regular season with no ties. The last time was in 2004 when North went 20-0 en route to an appearance in the state final four. Senior midfielders Chantae Miller and Leslie Ahern, defenders Emily Curry and Tricia Kennery, and goalie Nicole Lewis were freshmen on that team; junior attacker Caitlin Butler was in eighth grade.

"If I had to compare this group to the team from 2004, I would say this group is the stronger team because of the years of experience they have," said North coach Kris Lapaglia. "They've come together nicely."

"I'm proud of the team in general," she added. "We had a lot of kids move up this year from JV who are instrumental in keeping the level of play competitive. They have the same goals as the kids who have four, five and six years of varsity experience."

North hasn't just beaten their opponents, they've dominated. Lapaglia said her team scored 70 goals this year and allowed only three.

While 70 goals is a lot of scoring, Lapaglia said great goaltending across the league has made her team work hard for every goal.

"It built intensity for the kids," said Lapaglia. "It's a positive for all coaches in the area that goaltending play has been up."

North finished off the regular season with shutouts over West Seneca West, 6-0, on Oct. 10; West Seneca East, 3-0, on Oct. 12; Amherst, 2-0, on Oct. 15; and Clarence, 7-0, last Wednesday.

The scoring was distributed among several players in each game. Miller and freshman attacker Allie Ahern had two goals each, and Leslie Ahern and junior attacker Emily O'Gorman added single tallies in the win over West Seneca West. O'Gorman and junior midfielder Lauren Weber each tacked on an assist.

Allie Ahern, Miller and Weber had goals, and Weber and Leslie Ahern added assists versus West Seneca East.

Miller (Leslie Ahern) and O'Gorman (Miller) had a goal in the first and second half, respectively, against Amherst. Miller's goal came with four minutes left in the first half; it was the longest time North had been without a first-half goal.

The Amherst game was called with 10 minutes left in the second half after Lady Tigers' goalkeeper Erin Edson took a hard shot off her kneecap.

Miller scored five times, including two goals in the first half, and Butler and Allie Ahern had single goals in the first half against Clarence. Senior midfielder Adrianna Meholick, Allie Ahern and O'Gorman each contributed two assists and Kennery and Butler tacked on single assists.

Lewis recorded one save against West Seneca West, West Seneca East and Amherst and six against Clarence.

Miller finished the regular season with 29 goals and 20 assists. She scored in 13 of the games and recorded an assist in 12 others. Others high scorers for North are Allie Ahern (eight goals, nine assists), Butler (eight goals, three assists), O'Gorman (eight goals, four assists) and Leslie Ahern (six goals, 10 assists).

Meholick has been solid on defense with seven assists on corner shots and three goals.

"Meholick, Curry and sophomore Holly Flanigan have been superb," said Lapaglia.

Lewis finished with 13 shutouts.

North, ranked No. 1 in Western New York, hosts Kenmore West at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in a Section VI Class A quarterfinal game.

"We're going to take it one game at a time," said Lapaglia. "The kids know there's no letting down. They can't expect a victory; they have to earn it."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com