North, Amherst, field hockey beat Kenmore schools
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

The Section VI Class A and B field hockey finals held on Thursday at Amherst High School could have a Town of Amherst flavor.

Williamsville North, the top seed in Class A, and Amherst, ranked third in Class B, won home quarterfinal games by shutout last Friday to advance to the semifinals.

North blanked eighth-seed Kenmore West, 11-0; Amherst posted a 2-0 shutout over Kenmore East.

North (17-0) plays fourth-seed Hamburg at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Amherst High School in a semifinal game. Fourth-seed Sweet Home, which beat sixth-seed Clarence, 3-0, in the quarterfinals, faces second-seed Lancaster in the other semifinal game at 5 p.m., also at Amherst.

Amherst played seventh-seed Williamsville South in a Class B semifinal on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The winner plays Iroquois or Pioneer at 5 p.m. on Thursday in the Class B final. The Class A final follows at 7 p.m.

Chantae Miller had three goals and an assist and Leslie Ahern added two goals and an assist to lead the North attack against Hamburg.

"It was a great team effort," said North coach Kris Lapaglia. "Kenmore West had a rough week with injuries and lost four of their starters. They were not even sure if they were going to have enough players to play the game. The great thing is they never gave up. They played with 11 players and did a nice job considering the circumstances."

"My team did what they did best and really worked the passing game and stayed focused on the task at hand," she continued. "Nicole Lewis did not record a shot in the shutout."

Amherst scored a goal in each half to defeat Kenmore East. Katrina McQuiggan scored off a corner from Jordan Aprile and Carolyn Sobol 15 minutes into the first half. Sobol scored 10 minutes into the second half from McQuiggan and Abby Muraco.

"We came out strong and passed well, ultimately generating numerous scoring opportunities to capitalize on those chances. In the second half, we started out flat and Kenmore East picked up their game," said Amherst coach Laurie LeGoff. "We responded and picked up our level of play, and subsequently came down and generated attack."

Goalie Erin Edson made one save for the shutout. She had been out since a ball hit her knee in a game with North on Oct. 15.

Sweet Home got goals from Katie Mazuchowski, Chrissy Strom and Heather Kolbas to knock off Clarence. Lauren Korniczky assisted on Strom's and Kolbas' goals. Goalie Leann Stiver posted the shutout.

Sweet Home led Clarence, 2-0, at halftime.

"We played a strong game and was able to finish out plays with some goals," said Sweet Home coach Dawn Kauderer-Kromer.

Sweet Home and Lancaster are not strangers with one another. Sweet Home beat Lancaster, 1-0, in overtime earlier in the season.

"I'm looking for it to be a competitive game," said Kauderer-Kromer. "Our games are always tight."

Kauderer-Kromer said her team needs to play aggressive and intense all game to have a chance of winning.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com