SOCCER
East Aurora soccer wins twin championships
Blue Devils boys and girls shut out foes for Class B titles
East Aurora’s boys and girls cross country teams have won Section VI titles on the same day so often that it’s easy to lose count.
It’ll be a bit easier to keep track of the amount of times EA’s boys and girls soccer teams have won sectional championships on the same day because it happened for the first time Friday night.
Blue and white were the dominant colors on this Halloween night at Amherst High School’s Dimp Wagner Field as both Blue Devils programs earned their Kodak moments.
EA’s boys remained picture perfect by dethroning defending Class B champion Akron, 3-0, in a physical game in which the ball literally bounced the Blue Devils’ way.
Shane Healy, Barry Hunt and Tyler Friess scored for East Aurora (21-0), while goalie Dan Coulter made four saves for the team’s 17th shutout of the season.
East Aurora’s girls team opened the Class B doubleheader with a 1-0 triumph over Fredonia to win its second straight sectional title and third in four years.
“I think it’s awesome,” girls coach Tom Cashmore said. “It’s tough for one team to win [a championship] let alone two.”
“I don’t know how it happened,” said Healy, who scored the game-winning goal early in the first half when he pinballed a shot into the net off an Akron defender. “It was a good night for us. The girls game was fun to [watch]. It’s really exciting.”
Both teams will face Rochester-area Section V champions in the Far West Regionals. The girls play at 7:30 p. m. Friday at Pioneer, while the boys will play either Friday or next Saturday at Amherst.
An estimated 500 fans attended both games and watched EA’s boys seize control with a pair of goofy goals in the opening 28:42.
Healy’s occurred on a desperation shot with Akron’s goalkeeper challenging him with an oncoming Tigers defender roughly 10 yards in front of the goal. Hunt’s 24th goal of the season was a long bouncing shot that picked up speed and dribbled past a diving Sam Torrelli (seven saves).
Friess gave EA fans cause to celebrate early with an insurance goal with 7:44 left.
Coulter handled the rest. While he didn’t face a lot of shots, he thwarted Akron chances by picking off lob and cross passes into the box before a Tiger could reach the ball.
Akron (18-2-2) did have a territorial advantage for a good stretch only to come up empty when its three best chances clanked off the crossbar.
“The crossbar was a good friend for us,” said coach Kevin Beale, who guided EA to its fifth title in 12 seasons and first since 2001.
An EA girls team that returned just three starters from last year’s Class A championship team used its speed to frustrate Fredonia (16-3). The Blue Devils (17-4-1) tracked down the majority of loose balls and got back quickly on defense to block the Hillbillies’ path to the goal.
Even a stiff wind failed to slow down EA during the second half. And, the air currents even helped the Blue Devils break a scoreless tie with 23 minutes left as junior Hillary Baritot’s high booming shot from the middle of the 20-yard line off an Erin Holbrook corner kick danced into the top right corner like a Tim Wakefield knuckleball.
“I thought it was going over the net, so did the whole team and it just ended up curving into the net,” said Baritot, who has scored all three of her goals this season in the playoffs. “It’s just really great to be part of this [championship].”
