At the start of the New York State high school soccer playoffs, only four schools in the entire state sent both their girls and boys programs to the tournament. Heading into the state semi-finals November 12 and 13, only one sent both to their respective final four – Spencerport.
The Rangers girls won their seventh consecutive Section V championship and advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Section VI winner Williamsville East.
The boys won their first Section V title since 2012 and 13th in school history. They easily handled Niagara-Wheatfield 4-1 in the state regional round to advance to the final four.
After falling behind 1-0 after a penalty kick goal by Williamsville East in the 14th minute, the Rangers rallied just seven minutes later to tie the game as sophomore Lindsay Lenhard scored on a free kick from 21 yards out, putting the ball inside the left post for her team-leading 19th goal of the season.
In the second half, after a long goalkeeper punt by junior co-captain Cate Burns that forced the Williamsville East defenders to put the ball out of play, Lenhard sent a corner kick that junior Isabella Fiorillo headed toward the net. The resulting save went to the foot of senior co-captain Kathleen Fitzgerald who found the back of the net for the game-winning tally in the 64th minute.
“One of the main things our coaches preach is to crash the box and get something on goal, and it was rebounded out and I was there…worked out perfectly,” Fitzgerald said. “Our coaches also preach don’t let someone else do it, do it yourself, so I saw the ball and went right for it; I didn’t care who was in my way.”
“It’s a great feeling; we really worked together as a team,” senior defender Sydney Khuns said. “After we got scored on it was tough, but we pushed through that to get the win.
“We definitely lost a lot of players last year, but we’ve been working really hard as a team and we’ve been pushing each other. I think we just all work really well together.”
“This year was a rebuilding year because we lost a lot of good players and to put it all together was a lot of work, but credit to this team for working hard and add a little grit to it to accomplish this again,” Spencerport head coach Jamie Schneider said.
In addition to Lenhard’s 19 goals, freshmen Emily Peacock and Liana Tata were second on the team with nine goals each while junior Aleena Solano was third with nine assists.
The girls take their 16-game unbeaten streak into the state semi-finals against New Hartford of Section III.
The Spencerport boys gelled at the right time, taking a four-game winning streak into the Section V playoffs before running the table with victories over Gates-Chili, Greece Arcadia, Webster-Thomas and four-time defending champion Pittsford-Sutherland in the finals.
They had an easier time in their state regional contest using a pair of assists by senior Joey Weaver in their victory on their home field.
Weaver took a corner kick that was chipped in by junior Josiah Warrington for the game’s first goal in the 24th minute. Later in the first half, senior Andrew Wiebeld’s free kick from 40 yards out dribbled past the goalkeeper with classmate Andrew Moss shielding for a 2-0 lead.
After Niagara-Wheatfield cut the lead to one in the 61st minute, Weaver put a left foot pass through the defense and right on the foot of freshman Zach Tortora, who with poise put it past the goalkeeper to extend the lead back to two goals. Junior Justice Hinman later sealed the victory with an assist from junior Kyle Milburn to send the Rangers to their first state semi-final since 1979.
“The defense line pushed up (after blocking the free kick) and Zach made the perfect run through, I played him and he was composed and finished it,” Weaver said about the third goal.
“Coach Wyant at the beginning of the season said this is our goal and this is where we want to be. We’re going to have highs and lows, but that’s where we want to be.”
“I think it was the way we bonded as a team; there wasn’t really one specific game,” senior John Choate said. “We just came together and were really good at the end; we came together at the right time coming into sectionals.”
“I think the gears started turning that, if we can beat all these AA schools, that we can play with anyone,” Spencerport head coach Kody Wyant said. “We wanted to make sure we brought consistency to the sectional tournament.”
Milburn broke the school’s all-time scoring mark this season previously held by Randy Shaw in 1990-1992. He finished with 21 goals and was second with nine assists. Hinman had 12 goals while Weaver led the squad with ten assists.
The boys were set to face Amityville Memorial from Section 11 in their semi-final match Saturday, November 12 at Monroe-Woodbury in Orange County.
The Rangers girls soccer team defeated Section VI winner Williamsville East to advance to state semi-finals.
Photo by Warren Kozireski
