GIRLS LACROSSE
West Seneca West joins champions club
Lancaster, Amherst make it five straight; Indians win first
There were three Section VI champions in girls lacrosse crowned at Orchard Park Tuesday, but the biggest celebration and the most wide-eyed smiles were owned by West Seneca West.
On an evening in which Amherst and Lancaster both easily won their fifth straight sectional championships, West Seneca West made its first sectional final a memorable one by dethroning two-time defending champion Hamburg, 7-5, to win the Class B championship.
The Indians did not win a league game in ECIC I during a 4-12 regular season, but it won its fourth straight playoff game to win the Indians’ first title in the 10 years of the program’s existence.
“We just really proved everyone wrong,” said Allyson Wolf, a junior who had three goals and and two assists for West. “Everyone had doubts in us but we came through in the end. It feels great to finally get one for West.”
A combined estimated crowd of 1,000 saw West Seneca West (8-12),Lancaster (19-2) and Class C champion Amherst (16-1) advance to Saturday’s Far West Regionals Saturday at Brighton High in suburban Rochester. Lancaster beat Orchard Park, 11-3, in the Class A final while Amherst routed East Aurora, 17-8, in Class C.
But the only coach to get soaked with a Gatorade water jug bath by his players was West’s Mark Komosinski. Komosinski actually got so excited after the game that when he threw his hands straight up in the air, his wedding ring flew off and was lost for a few moments before it turned up on the track.
“Absolutely ecstatic,” was how the 10-year coach described his feelings about the game. “We put everything together. . . . Today we just told the girls it was going to be another game — ground balls, draws, all of the basics. And one of things that worked to our advantage was the fact that we’ve never been here before. We didn’t have anything to lose, so I told them to leave it all out on the field.”
West scored all of its goals in taking a 7-3 halftime lead, but maintained control of the game in the second half through patient possessions, tough defense, key saves by sophomore Jordan Snajczuk and by being quick and tenacious to ground balls all over the field.
Senior Brenda Athans added two goals while sophomore Danielle Williams and senior Emily Lelito each added one. Hamburg (11-6) came within 7-5 on senior Noelle Miller’s second goal of the game with 9:41 to play. Sophomore Amanda Patrone also had two goals.
The tripleheader began and ended with the fifth straight titles for Amherst and Lancaster.
Despite losing nine seniors from last year’s team and having just three on this year’s, Amherst opened the day with a complete performance to beat East Aurora (14-4) for the third straight year in the final.
Junior Brooke Bullock put together a standout all-around performance that included five goals and three assists as Amherst jumped out to a 5-1 lead, had a 9-4 halftime advantage and extended it to 13-4. Freshman Ivy Timlin had three goals and two assists, senior Abbie Gowen had four goals and sophomore Sophie Niesciur had two goals.
“The young players had huge growth this year,” said Amherst assistant coach Kristy Grossman. “What they did on the field surprised [she and Amherst coach Janet Battaglia] in terms of how well they came together and how fast they did it.”
Senior Lauren Schwarzenholzer led East Aurora (14-4) with five goals.
Lancaster, which beat Orchard Park (7-10) twice in ECIC I, shrugged off a relatively slow start. OP tied the game at 2-2 midway through the first half, but wouldn’t score again until the final minute.
Senior Lindsey Morgan scored three goals to lead seven goal-scorers as Lancaster took a 5-2 halftime lead it would extend to 10-2. Senior Caitlin Formato and seventh-grader Allison Stewart each had two.
“Coach gave us a good pep talk [at halftime] so we were ready to go,” said Morgan. “We’re definitely excited to win five in a row.”
• For much more on the finals, go to the Prep Talk blog at buffalonews.com/highschool.
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