East girls soccer upset in Class A final
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East's Jenny Griffin kicks the ball past Pioneer's Angela Czsak during the Lady Flames' 2-1 Section VI Class A semifinal win last Tuesday at East. East went on to lose to East Aurora, 2-1, in the Class A final last Saturday at Amherst High School's Dimp Wagner Field. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The Williamsville East girls soccer team had everything going for them heading into the Section VI Class A final last Saturday night at Amherst High School's Dimp Wagner Field.

The Lady Flames hadn't lost a game and were ranked the entire season as the No. 1 school in Western New York. Recently, they were ranked third in New York State and 18th in the Soccer Coaches Association of America/ Adidas National Rankings poll. They were also the 2006 Section VI Class A champions.

Unfortunately, dreams of back-to-back section titles came up short for the Lady Flames as they fell 2-1 to seventh-seed East Aurora.

Sarah Tarantino scored both goals for the Lady Blue Devils. Her first goal broke a scoreless tie 57 seconds into the second half. The ball bounced into the goal area, junior goalie Josephine Bochiechio (eight saves) made a save but couldn't clear it and Tarantino hammered it into the left side of the goal. Tarantino's second goal came at the 8-minute mark. She got a cross outside of the 18-yard box and flicked the ball into the top right corner of the net.

"It was obviously a huge goal for them," said East coach Chris Durr of Tarantino's first goal. "Coming into the second half, we were playing pretty well. After the first goal, I thought we were still playing well. After the second goal, you can only say to yourself, 'it's not your night.'"

Senior midfielder Jenny Griffin forced her way through the East Aurora defense to score East's only goal with 17:39 left in the second half. The goal not only cut the Lady Flames' deficit to 2-1; it gave Griffin 25 for the season, a school record (Sherrie Harrishburg had 24 in 1996).

Durr felt his team dominated the last 20 minutes of the game with several scoring opportunities but couldn't tie the game.

To advance to its eighth section final in nine years, East held off fifth-seed Pioneer, 2-1, in the semifinals last Tuesday.

"I was really worried about this game because of emotional factors," said Durr. "Prior to sectionals, a couple of their players were in a car accident and one was still in the hospital. Plus their coach, Frank Asquith, was retiring. I was glad to be on the winning end of that game. It was nerve racking at some points."

Griffin put East ahead 1-0 with 18 seconds left in the first half on a great individual effort.

"She picked up the ball from 35 to 40 yards out, dribbled across the field, beat three of their players and shot the ball from 25 yards out with her left foot into the top corner of the net," said Durr. "It was a typical Jenny Griffin goal. We were getting a few opportunities but not finishing. Her goal was uplifting for us heading into halftime."

Freshman Becky Fedak made it 2-0 20 minutes into the second half from sophomore midfielder Kayla Acklin and Griffin.

"Jenny brought it through their defense and as their goalie came out to her, she knocked the ball to the right with the outside of her foot to Becky who was wide open and put it into the open net," said Durr.

Ten seconds later, East took a Pioneer player down and a penalty kick was called. Pioneer scored on the penalty kick.

"Taking a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to go and giving up a penalty kick 10 seconds later was difficult to take," said Durr.

Bochiechio finished with six saves; East had 14 shots on Pioneer.

East finished 19-1-2. The 19 wins ties a school record set in 2005 for most wins in a season. The Lady Flames also won the ECIC Division II championship for the sixth straight year and have earned victories in its last 36 league games.

"The immediate reaction (after the East Aurora loss) was a lot of disbelief, sadness and disappointment," said Durr. "Obviously our four seniors were very upset. They were looking forward to repeating as section champions. On the other hand, you can't base the season on one game. If you step back, it was a remarkable season. We beat a state champion (Livonia, 3-0) and tied Pittsford Mendon (a soccer powerhouse in Rochester), 1-1."

Griffin leaves East with 76 goals and 69 assists, both school records. Along with 25 goals this season, she had 21 assists.

"What's amazing about her is that she's not a forward," said Durr. "I truly believe she's the best player in Western New York this year."

Griffin is co-captain with senior forward Jessica Kowalski, who had 12 goals and 11 assists this year and 41 career goals and 42 assists. The duo played for East teams that won four ECIC titles, one section title and a 73-6-7 record.

Other significant statistics this season came from junior Tara Kiernan (11 goals, 13 assists), Jenny's younger sister, sophomore Katie Griffin (eight goals, eight assists), Fedak (five goals, five assists) and Acklin (four goals, 12 assists). In all, 13 East players scored goals; 16 players had at least an assist.

Bochiechio had 15 shutouts, tying Jenna Gage's record set in 2002. Bochiechio only let in nine goals, a school record. East scored 76 goals.

Jenny Griffin, Kowalski, Kiernan, Bochiechio and junior defender Neha Bakhai were named ECIC Division II first team all-stars. Sophomore defender Morgan Begy, Katie Griffin and Acklin made the second team.

With only four seniors graduating (Jenny Griffin, Kowalski, Kristen Saviola and Alex Lima) and 10 underclassmen, the future is still bright for East soccer.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed the season," said Durr. "My expectations were not as high as last year but to finish with a 19-1-2 record with half of the team underclassmen, it's tremendous for the next couple of years."

The East JV team went 15-3; the modified was 14-0.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com