East girls soccer beats Amherst, extends winning streak
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

In a showdown between two of the top Western New York large school girls soccer programs, top-ranked Williamsville East downed fifth-ranked Amherst, 5-2, last Friday night at Amherst's Dimp Wagner Field.

The victory extended Williamsville East's win streak to 12 and snapped Amherst's seven game win streak.

"It was a good game for us," said Williamsville East coach Chris Durr. "Amherst has been playing well. They were the best team we've faced in a while. I was a little concerned about giving up two goals, but overall we played well."

The Lady Flames (12-1, 8-0) scored three goals in the first 22 minutes on first-half tallies by Katie Griffin (Kendra Durden), Kayla Acklin (Lauren Randaccio) and Becky Fedak (Tara Kiernan). Griffin's goal, at the 10-minute mark, came from 25 yards out and ripped off the far post. Acklin followed three minutes later from 30 yards away. Fedak's goal came from inside the 6-yard box.

"East has a solid team that really came out and took the wind out of our sails right away," said Amherst coach JoAnna Fildes.

"At that point, we were dominating the game," said Durr. "But in the last 10 to 12 minutes of the first half, Amherst got their legs and played with more confidence, and we started to get complacent."

Amherst (10-3) was rewarded for their hard work with a goal by Sarah Lasker (Allison Rogers) at the 35-minute mark.

"It was a real positive for them," said Durr. " You don't want to give a team like them any momentum."

The second half belonged to Kiernan. The Williamsville East senior scored at the 26- and 28-minute marks on assists from Randaccio and two assists from Griffin.

"She's been our most consistent player all year," said Durr. "Even if she doesn't score, she's getting the most attention from other teams."

Rogers (Stephanie Scime) got loose on a semi-breakaway and scored at the 30-minute mark. The goal was only Amherst's fourth shot on goal.

A big reason why Amherst only got four shots on net was because Williamsville East's defenders — Brianna Zangara, Neha Bakhai, Olivia Quenneville and Morgan Begy — did a great job of beating Amherst forwards to the ball.

Durr was also pleased with how his younger players, like Randaccio, an eighth-grader, played.

Fildes lauded her team's defense, led by Paula Jones. Gaelynn Ryan, Erin VanLente, Mikaela Maddock and Sarah Harty also contributed.

Amherst goalie Casey McGuire recorded 11 saves.

Williamsville East's other game last week was a convincing 8-0 shutout over Sweet Home last Thursday at Sweet Home.

The Lady Flames were all over the Lady Panthers, scoring three goals in the first 13 minutes from Kiernan (Griffin, Bakhai), Durden (Acklin) and Fedak (Griffin, Bakhai). Kiernan (Randaccio) and Randaccio (Acklin) rounded out the first-half scoring.

Griffin scored eight minutes into the second half on a penalty kick to make it 5-0. Becca Rumschik and Acklin also scored in the second half on helpers from Kiernan.

Josephine Bochechio only needed to make one save.

"Sweet Home gave us some fits the last time we played them," said Durr. "The kids wanted to make sure they didn't score."

Williamsville East, ranked seventh in the state in Class A, played at Lake Shore on Monday, but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Hamburg at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Sweet Home

Prior to the loss to Williamsville East, the Lady Panthers were playing well. Sweet Home had lost their last three games by a combined score of 7-3.

The Lady Panthers fell to West Seneca East, 1-0, on Sept. 23 at Sweet Home, Hamburg, 3-2, on Sept. 24 at Hamburg, and Williamsville South, 3-1, on Sept. 27 at Sweet Home.

Sweet Home scored first against Williamsville South — Kelly Jasinowski, from Jaclyn Healy — at the 12-minute mark of the first half. Williamsville South answered four minutes later by Breanna Belle, from Lauren Cornell.

Williamsville South scored twice in the second half — Emily Novak, from Sarah Marcus, and Allie VanBuren, from Lisanne Sprague.

Sweet Home came back twice in the first half against Hamburg on goals by Mariah Mergler to tie the game at 2-2 by halftime. Hamburg's Rachel Reichard scored the game-winning goal at the 14-minute mark of the second half.

The West Seneca East game was scoreless until Tina Schwartzmeyer scored at the 36-minute mark of the second half.

Sweet Home's only win of the season was a 4-0 shutout over West Seneca West on Sept. 13 in the consolation final of the Tonawanda Tournament. Rochelle Richiazzi scored 25 minutes into the first half and added a goal in the second half from Lindsay Prentice. Mergler, from Healy, and Emily Victor, from Julie Goetz, added second-half goals.

"We buried our opportunities," said Sweet Home coach Josh Hicks. "That was the difference. In a lot of our games, we're getting chances and not capitalizing. Hopefully that will change."

Two days earlier, Sweet Home and Tonawanda were knotted at 2-2 at halftime in a first-round game. Victor, from Lindsay Prentice, and Mergler, from Sarah Williams, scored for the Lady Panthers.

Mergler leads Sweet Home with eight goals. Victor, Julie Goetz and Kelly Weber have played well on defense, said Hicks.

Sweet Home lost 11-0 to Starpoint on Oct. 3 at Starpoint. They played Iroquois on Oct. 6 at Iroquois, but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They play at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Lake Shore.

Amherst Central

Before losing to Williamsville East, the Lady Tigers beat Depew, 2-1, in overtime, on Sept. 29 at Depew, and Maryvale, 5-0, last Wednesday at Maryvale.

Scime scored the game-winning goal against Depew during the first 10 minutes of overtime, assisted by Kristen Whissel. Rogers scored an unassisted goal in the first half. McGuire made nine saves to record the win in goal.

"A much-improved Depew team from past years gave us everything we could handle," said Fildes. "We generated many scoring opportunities, but could not put the game away."

Fildes lauded the defensive play from Jones, Maddock, Ryan and VanLente.

Laura Caty scored twice and Zanna Barth, Abbie Gowen and Rogers each scored once against Maryvale. Scime chipped in two assists. Harty and Rogers each contributed one assist.

McGuire recorded her sixth shutout of the season.

Amherst played at Cheektowaga on Monday, but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Pioneer at 5 p.m. on Wednesday on Amherst's Dimp Wagner Field.