South rebounds in playoff tune-ups
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville South got ready for the Section VI Class A girls soccer playoffs by treating its last week of regular season games like it was the postseason. By the time South had played its third game last week, it was safe to say the Lady Billies are in playoff mode.

South overcame a horrible performance at Lake Shore last Monday (3-2 loss) with a 1-0 home win against Ellicottville last Wednesday and a 1-0 loss at Frontier last Friday.

"I thought we put two solid games together heading into the playoffs," said South coach Kevin McNamara. "It really gave us some confidence."

Junior Alex Ciolko took a cross from sophomore Sarah Marcus and scored 20 minutes into the first half for the lone goal versus Ellicottville, ranked No. 1 in New York State Class D.

"We played a real nice game," he continued. "After the game, Ellicottville coach Mary Nielon complemented us on our ball possession."

Freshman Erin Ballou recorded the shutout.

McNamara said the Frontier game could have gone either way.

"We lost with two minutes left but I felt we played really well," said McNamara.

South needed to play well against Ellicottville and Frontier because they didn't play well versus Lake Shore.

"We struggle on a smaller field (game was played at J.T. Waugh Elementary) plus we started off the game by missing two breakaways," said McNamara. "The kids seemed to wake up in the second half and start playing."

Lake Shore led 2-0 at halftime before Jenessa Lucey scored from Ciolko 10 minutes into the second half to cut the Lady Billies' deficit to 2-1. Lake Shore answered shortly thereafter. South's Arielle Ross made it 3-2 on an unassisted goal at the top of the 18 but the Lady Billies could not get the tying goal.

South, 6-9 overall, 5-7 in ECIC Division II, seeded eleventh in the Class A tournament, played sixth-seed Hutch-Tech at All-High Stadium on Tuesday in a prequarterfinal game. The result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. A South win would place them against Kenmore East or Starpoint at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in a quarterfinal contest.

"Everyone starts 0-0," said McNamara. "The difference now is if we lose we don't practice, the kids hand in their uniforms."

McNamara said for his team to have success in the postseason, they need to continue possessing the ball and taking care of opportunities in the 18-yard box.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers have been snakebitten with victories this season but coach Josh Hicks is happy with his team's improvement.

"It's been rough but I've been happy with the progress," said Hicks, whose team is 1-17. "They're playing together as a team."

A sign of Sweet Home's improvement came in the team's 3-1 loss at Orchard Park last Wednesday. OP is the top seed in the Section VI Class AA tournament.

"We moved the ball much more up and down the field," Hicks said. "We weren't struggling to get it out of our end the whole time."

Junior Mariah Mergler scored in the second half for Sweet Home. Hicks said his team had a couple of other scoring chances in the second half but the ball wasn't bouncing their way.

Sweet Home finished 0-12 in ECIC Division II. It's best chance at a win came at home on Oct. 9 against Lake Shore.

Sweet Home trailed Lake Shore 4-1 before they answered with two goals. Junior Kelly Weber scored twice; Mergler had the other goal. Weber and senior Laura Ner- ber, starting defenders who Hicks has moved all over the place, have not played in the team's last three games because of injuries.

Sweet Home, seeded 13th in the Section VI Class A playoffs, played on Tuesday at fourth-seed Kenmore West in a prequarterfinal. The result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. Sweet Home lost 5-1 to Kenmore West earlier this season. The winner plays twelfth-seed Jamestown or fifth-seed Niagara-Wheatfield at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in the quarterfinals.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com