High School Extra / Canisius beats No. 5 Orchard Park
Canisius goes to 10-1
Canisius cleared another hurdle in the roughest part of its boys soccer schedule Tuesday. The host Crusaders, ranked No. 4 among Western New York large schools, defeated No. 5 Orchard Park, 4-0, to run their record to 10-1. The only Canisius loss was to Aquinas of Rochester, 1-0, a team that the Crusaders had previously defeated, 2-0.
“This was absolutely one of the bigger games on our schedule,” said Canisius coach Sam Blesito. “We’re right in the meat of our schedule — Aquinas twice, St. Joe’s, Frannies [St. Francis] and Friday we play Nichols. The kids are playing really strong defensively. We’ve given up only four goals in 10 games.”
Senior D. J. Garner, sophomore Mac Garner, Adam Augustyn and Brian Graham scored for Canisius. Mac Garner’s goal, his first for the varsity, came on his 16th birthday.
Chris Kuchta had the shutout, the sixth for Canisius this season.
Kenmore East ties Lockport
Lockport built a 2-0 lead in the first half on two goals by Andrew Granchelli but couldn’t hold on. Casey Sheehan’s goal with 9:15 left capped a Kenmore East rally that produced a 2-2 tie between the Niagara Frontier League rivals in Lockport.
“So disappointing. We let it get away. We stopped doing the things that got us a 2-0 lead,” said Lockport coach Jeff Hulshoff, whose team had dropped an earlier 2-1 game to the first-place Bulldogs (7-1-3, 5-0-3 in NFL). Lockport is 8-3-2 overall, 5-2-2 in the league.
No. 2 Spartans lead ECIC II
Ranked No. 2 among Western New York large schools in girls volleyball, Starpoint (10-0, 6-0 in ECIC II) defeated No. 6 Sweet Home in three games and took sole possession of first place. Sweet Home is 5-1.
Sam Palka led the Spartans with 14 kills while Julia Matters contributed 16 service points. Sydney Palka had 25 assists and 10 service points for the winners.
Gowanda takes charge in CCAA
With Cliff Nielson and Kevin Brown finishing 1-2, Gowanda (6-0) took charge of first place in the CCAA boys cross country standings by edging second-place Fredonia (5-1), 28-29, and easily outdistancing Frewsburg and Sherman in a quadrangular meet at Lake Erie State Park. Nielson won in 17:33, 11 seconds ahead of Brown. The Panthers are ranked second among Western New York small schools in the Checkers/ Runners Roost poll. . . . In girls cross country, Erin Kling set a course record (18:59) in leading No. 2 large school Jamestown over No. 3 small school and host Maple Grove, 21-35.
Kudos at Iroquois
Jacob Steck, Class of 2000, the all-time boys basketball leader with 1,425 career points, and Ernie Brown, who coached baseball, basketball and volleyball for more than 30 years, were enshrined on the Wall of Fame at Iroquois.
