GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart College hockey team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back as it knocked off Babson College 5-1 to claim the 2023 New England Hockey Conference tournament title. It is the second NEHC conference crown for the Statesmen and the first since winning back in 2018, their first season in the league.
With the win, Hobart (26-2-0) earned the NEHC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The entire tournament field will be released on Monday, March 6 with the NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Selection Show on NCAA.com at 10 a.m.
Junior Jonah Alexander led the way for Hobart with three points on a goal and two assists. His linemates sophomore Luke Aquaro (2g) and sophomore Shane Shell (2a) also had multi-point games for the Statesmen. First-year Damon Beaver made 14 saves as he recorded his 15th victory of the season.
Nolan Hildebrand made 37 saves in just under 60 minutes of work for Babson (17-9-2).
KEY STATS:
Hobart finished the contest with a 42-15 edge in shots on goal.
Neither team scored a power-play goal, but the Statesmen did pick up a shorthanded tally.
SCORING SUMMARY
Hobart opened the scoring at the 2:36 mark of the first period when Alexander pocketed his 15th goal of the season. He intercepted a Babson breakout pass and wristed a shot into the upper left corner of the cage.
Ten minutes later, Aquaro extended Hobart’s lead to two goals. His 18th goal of the season was assisted by Alexander and Shell. After his initial shot went wide, Aquaro snapped a shot from the right faceoff circle into the back of the net.
First-year Tanner Daniels gave Hobart a 3-0 lead headed into the first intermission. He picked up a rebound and flipped a shot past Hildebrand for his ninth goal of the season. Matthieu Wuth and Artem Buzoverya were awarded assists on the strike.
Babson ended the shutout bid at the 13:13 mark of the second period when Brendan Kennedy scored his eighth goal of the season. He forced a turnover below the goal line and had his initial shot turned aside by Beaver, but his rebound attempt found the back of the net.
Graduate Student Zach Tyson put the game out of reach with his 11th goal of the season just over a minute into the third period. He picked the pocket of a Babson defender and rifled a shot from the slot past Hildebrand. It was an unassisted shorthanded goal.
Aquaro rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal at the 14:38 mark of the final period. Alexander and Shell collected assists on the goal.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Graduate Student Zach Tyson was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
COACH’S CORNER: “Some nights you know and tonight I knew when I first stepped on the bench,” Head Coach Mark Taylor said. “I looked across the ice and saw the awesome crowd, but inside that Professor Halfman standing where he has been standing my entire career. I then saw a student in front of him in a short sleeve shirt having a blast. I knew then it was going to be a good night. Seriously, it’s not the trophy, it’s the atmosphere and the moments for not just my players but everyone. You take mental snap shots of it all, my town friends, the Lynch’s, the Feinberg’s, Fitzgerald’s, Penrod’s, etc., the loyal old timers in The Cooler hats, and I could name a hundred others. Then to have President Gearan on the ice handing out the trophy, it was all just right. The boys played it, but everyone in the cooler tonight had a piece of that victory, more than they think. I thank them all!”
Matthew Coronato, Charlie McAvoy, Tage Thompson, Shane Pinto, Marshall Warren, Robert Mastrosimone and Sonny Milano are familiar names as either NHL players or high draft picks hailing from the Long Island region.
Though not drafted, Copiague Harbor native Ross Mitton has used his junior season at Colgate to explode offensively while helping the Raiders earn home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs.
After scoring one goal his shortened freshman season and five as a sophomore, Mitton ended the regular season with eight goals and more than doubled his assist total from one year ago with 17.
“Honestly I’ve just been trying to be consistent and focusing on the little things; getting pucks to the net, play a strong defensive game getting the puck out and I’ve been playing really well with (linemates Alex) DiPaolo and (Matt) Veboon and we’ve been able to create a lot of offense and it’s been fun,” Mitton said.
Mitton started with the Long Island Royals for two years and then two more with the New Jersey Avalanche before heading to the USHL. In his first year with Fargo, the Force won the Clark Cup championship, but it wasn’t until the second half of his third year in the league (2019-20) that he found more success in the offensive zone with 11 goals and 27 points in 340 games with Omaha prior to coming to college.
“There is definitely a bunch of us in college hockey and, when we go home in the summer, we all train together and skate together and obviously when we play each other, we try to go hard, but it’s definitely fun with big friendships on all these other teams,” Mitton said about Long Island players.
Mitton uses his speed and, despite his 5’10”, 185 lb. frame, is often found hanging around the net in the attacking zone. He is seeing both power play and penalty kill unit time with the Raiders this season as well.
“(Coach) definitely wants me to shoot more; I think I could have a couple more goals if I decided to shoot the puck, but I was trying to look for my teammates backdoor.
Mitton has direct family to thank for getting him involved in hockey at a young age.
“My uncle (John Osei-Tutu) played growing up and I always watched him play and used to get on the ice with him a bunch. He was navigating with me trying to get me on different teams and such and then he became a hockey agent for pretty much all the guys on Long Island and some around the country, so I look up to him.”
Mitton also has ties to former Buffalo Sabres forward and now San Jose General Manager Mike Grier.
“I played in an all-minority tournament in the summer a couple of years ago and he called me and wanted me to join them and we were able to win that tournament, which was very cool and a cool experience because I had never played with an all-minority team before. And I still talk to a bunch of those guys today.”
The junior Economics major after hockey envisions himself working on Wall St. And has one of the more unique stories as to how he chose to wear his uniform number (17)?
“I had a dog—a Yorkie named Taffy—and was my dog for a very long time, and he died in my arms when he was 17 years old, so that’s why I wear 17.”
Top-seed Utica exploded with four unanswered second period goals to overcome a 1-0 first period deficit and went on to defeat visiting and second-seed Nazareth 5-3 to win their second consecutive and fourth overall UCHC title and the NCAA tournament auto-bid that comes with it.
Michael DiSchiavi put Nazareth up 1-0 with an assist from Spencerport’s Nick Charron for the only goal of the opening stanza.
The Pioneers tied it just 1:45 into the second on a goal by senior Brandon Osmundson and tool the lead at 9:04 when tournament MVP Dante Zapata found the back of the net.
A five-on-three power play goal by senior Buster Larsson and an even strength tally 96 seconds apart later in the period made it 4-1 Utica before Nazareth got back into the game converting a two-on-one with freshman Blake Frost finishing off a pass after a breakout pass from Williamsville’s Griffin Green.
Golden Flyers freshman and UCHC All-Rookie team selection Logan Tobias (West Seneca) pulled Nazareth to within a goal with eight minutes remaining, but Utica scored an empty-netter to seal the victory.
“I think the players thought it might come a little easier than that, so we kind of came out a little laxed; it was not a first period that we liked,” Utica head coach Gary Heenan said. “We’re a veteran team, so we made some adjustments and came out and seized it in the second.
“It’s kind of nice that we got pushed tonight; we haven’t been pushed a lot and I think it will help our guys.”
Utica remains ranked first in the nation (USCHO poll) and expects to get a first round bye in the NCAA tournament when the selection are announced Monday morning.
They got knocked out in the quarterfinals last year by Adrian, in 2-19 in the quarterfinals by Oswego and in the first round in 2018 by Geneseo. They made the field in 2020, but the tournament were cancelled.
“I think we have a good mix of guys; a couple of us have been here for five years and we have a bunch of fourth-year seniors and a bunch of seniors that transferred…we’re such a tight-knit group and I think it shows on the ice,” Hilton native and assistant captain Justin Allen said.
The Niagara University Women’s Ice Hockey Team took the CHE (College Hockey East) 2023 Championship in their first season of play.
NU led the league with a 10-2-1 record and 21 points in the W2 Upstate Division. They were followed by University of Buffalo, Brockport, Oswego and RIT.
NU had a bye in the quarters as the number one seed. In the Semi-finals they beat Ohio State 2-1 and Mercyhurst 7-4 taking them to the Championship round.
The University of Buffalo lost 10-6 to Mercyhurst in the quarters. UB had a 9-3-1 record coming into the playoffs. Brockport also lost in quarters, 4-1 game to Ohio State.
UB players Sierra Dominick lead the Division with 8 goals, 5 assists for 13 points and she was followed by UB’s Emily Matthews with 4 goals, 4 assists and 8 points. Former WNYGVIH player Jackyln Supples of Oswego had 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points and sits in 3rd in the CHE Division W2.
Matthws UBDominick UB
NU’s Goaltender Courtney Schum takes top billing in goaltending with a .956 save% and former WNYGVIH Goaltender for Monsignor Martin, Isabella Battaglia sits at third with a 1.00 save%.
NU is coached by former WNYGVIH player Anna Quattro and several WNY players sit on that roster including Skylar Berube, Zoe Hallowell, Grace Miller. Mary Whelen and Jessica Yu.
The CHE is made up of what we formally called club teams. They have a W2 Division for women which includes team from Brockport, University of Buffalo, Mercyhurst, Niagara University, Ohio State, SUNY Oswego, Pittsburgh, Rochester Institute of Technology, Robert Morris and West Virginia. Those are divided into two division Upstate and TriState. In the playoffs the quarterfinals are made up of two teams from Upstate and two teams of TriState and they play down to the two teams for the Championship.
Buffalo State
Vanessa WillickAuge
The Bengals fell in their final game to Plattsburgh and ended with a 7-18-0 overall record under Coach Rachael Grampp.
Overall they have improved from last season with 6 wins and a NEWHL Conference victory against Morrisville.
Vanessa Willick, a WNYGVIH player from Williamsville, continued her scoring streak in college with 9 goals and 6 assists for 15 points.
RIT
2021 SABRES PROSPECTS
Goaltender Sarah Coe took Second Team All College Hockey America Honors after playing in 28 games and recording a 3.15 gaa and .911 save%.
Leading the scorers for RIT was Amy Dobson with 6 goals and 8 assists.
RIT closed out the season with a 3-1 loss to Penn State and Jessie Burks scoring her first collegiate goal. RIT ended with a 4-26-2 record under Coach Celeste Brown.
Hilbert
Courtney WeselowskiTaylor Loretto
In their Inaugural Season they closeout with a 8-1 loss to Kings College. While they lost every game they played two full lines, partnered with the Buffalo Beauts of the PHF, visited Hershey Park and added JP The Stuffed Duck to their family. In other words, they had fun and continued their hockey careers at the collegiate level.
In their first game out, they tied the University of Buffalo 2-2 in an exhibition game at Southtowns Arena.
Courtney Wesolowski of Holy Angels Academic and the WNYGVIH Monsignor Martin Ice Hockey Team; Taylor Loretto, a WNYGVIH from FFLOP with a State Championship in her bio and Assistant Coach Maddy Norton, a UB player and also a familiar face in between the pipes for LID of the WNYGVIH several years ago are all on Hilbert’s roster.
Abby Dawson had 2 goals and 1 assists and Abby MacNeil had 2 goals to lead the scoring.
In goal all three shared the responsibility including Tia Card, Jewely Monford and Cassie Troy.
They all look forward to next season and playing at least four games in WNY.
CHA:
The CHA has announced their All Conference Team which included Penn State Forward Kiara Zanon from Fairport on the First Team. This is her third consecutive season being honored and she leads the CHA with 25 goals and 22 assists.
Also named was Defense Mae Batherson of Syracuse.
Goalie Sarah Coe of RIT was named to Second All Conference Team.
Named to the All Rookie Team were Syracuse’s Rhea Hicks and Maya D’Arcy.
In CHA play it was #3 Syracuse losing to #2 Mercyhurst and #4 Lindenwood falling to #1 Penn State.
Penn State and Mercyhurst will faceoff for the CHA 2023 Championship on March 4.
NEWHL
#1 Plattsburgh beat #4 Canton and #3 Oswego fell to #2 Cortland so the NEWHL Championship will be Cortland against Plattsburgh on March 4.
Potsdam too fifth place, Morrisville, 6th and Buffalo State 7th.
Other
Lara Beecher was named Pro Ambitions Hockey’s Rookie of the Year. Lara is a freshman at the University of Vermont and played for the Buffalo Bisons.
Aizah Thompson, a former player in the WNYGVIH League with Williamsville and also the Buffalo Bisons was named NEWHL All Rookie of the Year. She is playing for SUNY Plattsburgh.
Gabby DeMeo has played idn 103 career games for Nazareth College. She played for FFLOP of the WNYGVIH Federation and for the Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles.
Elli Simmons, a former goalie for Kenmore/Grand Island/now Lockport of the WNYGVIH Federation played for Team USA in the FISU Women’s Games in Lake Placid. Simmons playes for the University of Vermont. She also played for Nichols School.
NYHOL would like to continue to recognize our WNYGVIH Federation players as they move on to College and beyond. If you know a player playing collegiate hockey, or coaching, please let us know. We’d like to update the Alumni list and it is about 4 years behind.
Clinton Team at Niagara County Turnament in Deember. Now the 2023 NYS Champions in Girls Varsity Ice Hockey.
By Janet Schultz, NYHOL; Photos are file photos from Clinton’s visit to the Niagara County Tournament earlier this season. Unfortunately NYHOL was unable to attend this year’s State Championship.
The Clinton Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Team took the NYSPHSAA Championship for the second time in their history. They last won in 2019-2020 at Lake Placid. This time they beat Adirondack United, a first-year team who had an 18-1 season. Clinton came in with a 13-1 record.
ADK beat Canton 4-1 and Clinton beat Kenmore/Grand Island/Lockport 4-2 to get to the Championship round.
ADK scored 3 goals in the first period and Canton tossed in one to close out not only the first period of the Semi-finals, but the second as well. An empty net goal in the third by Bayley Duffy sealed the ADK win 4-1 and ADK United moved on.
Clinton and KENGIPORT ended the first period scoreless but opened the second when Drew Kopeck scored for Clinton on a penalty shot.
Madison Flory
KENGIPORT’s Madison Flory tied the game at 12:41 of the second but Kopeck answered that less than a minute later and it was 2-1 at the end of two.
KENGIPORT opened scoring in the third with a goal by Isabelle Jayme that tied the game at 6:13. With offsetting penalities and 6:52 left Lauren Rey scores the game-winning-goal on the powerplay. Clinton took two penalities with 1:02 left in regulation, KENGIPORT pulled their goalie and Kopeck dropped in the empty-netter with 26 seconds left to seal the 4-2 win for Clinton.
#15 Lauren Rey, Clinton
In the Championship match it was a tight game with both teams scoring in the first and ending both first and second periods in a 1-1 tie. Clinton’s Kopeck scores in the third, assisted by Katherine Elbrecht and Casey Clausen for the 2-1 victory.
Drew Kopeck at the Niagara County Tournament. Kopeck scores for Clinton at the States to take the 2023 Championship
BUFFALO, NY — Three boys high school hockey teams repeated as champions of their respective divisions on Monday, Feb. 27th at KeyBank Center as part of the Super Sunday ’23 championship weekend. The trio were all part of the Section VI Boys Federation Hockey championships.
In the first game of the afternoon Starpoint High School defeated Niagara County rival, Niagara Wheatfield, 8-3 to win the small school, Division II title. In the middle contest Nichols downed St. Francis, 4-1, to win the Niagara Cup for the second year in-a-row.
In the final game Orchard Park broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period and went on to beat Clarence, 4-1 to win the large school, Division I crown.
STARPOINT VS. NIAGARA WHEATFIELD
Starpoint scored three unanswered goals in the second period to break a first period, 1-1, tie and never looked back. The Spartans were led by Jacob Cyrek and Alec Kirk, each scoring two goals for the winners.
Also scoring for the victors were Gavin Russell, Frankie Cardarella, Justin Bull and Mike Merrfield.
Anthony LaGreca scored two goals for the Falcons. Carson Kaluzny added a lone goal for N-W.
NICHOLS VS. ST. FRANCIS
Brady Hill scored the game’s first goal in the first period to give St. Francis an early 1-0 lead, which held up until mid-way through the second period. That’s when Nichols scored two very quick goals, the first by Jake Caffrey and the second by McLean Agrette.
Nichols never looked back, scoring two more goals in the third period by Griffin Johnston and Drury Schmidt. Alex Glofka played an outstanding game in goal for Nichols.
ORCHARD PARK VS. CLARENCE
First period goals by Orchard Park’s Jonah Reashor and Clarence’s Daniel Sherry stood up for until early in the third period. Ironically, it was the first goals of the season for each of the players.
Then in the third period Presley Schiltz, Logan Ward and Carter Zakrzewski scored for the Quakers and secured their win over Clarence.
Brayden Heam played an outstanding game in goal for OP, while Ben Shoemaker was solid in goal for Clarence.
All three teams will go on to State competition beginning next weekend.
(Photos by Janet Schultz Photography/NY Hockey OnLine; for a complete Gallery go to https://janetschultz.smugmug.com You can purchase photos at that site.)
BUFFALO, NY — East Aurora/Holland, Orchard Park A and ELPS were all won their respective divisional championships as part of the Super Sunday Club Hockey Championships held Friday, February 24 at KeyBank Center.
SMALL SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP
In this contest East Aurora/Holland played Orchard Park B. East Aurora/Holland jumped out to a 4-1 first period lead and never looked back., winning the Small School Championship, 8-1.
Cole Bailey led the way for East Aurora/Holland scoring a hat trick and adding two assists. Sean Casey added a pair of goals in a winning effort.
Also scoring for East Aurora/Holland was Trevor Konopa, Noah Osmanski and Alex Rumfola. Jack Ciano scored the loan goal for Orchard Park B.
LARGE SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP
Goaltender Brayden Hearn made a number of key saves to lead the Orchard Park A team to a 5-0 victory over Lancaster to win the Large School Championship.
Tom Summers scored two goals for the victorious Quakers. Also scoring for Orchard Park was Logan Ward, Gage Gosney and Andrew Johnson, who also added two assists.
MIXED SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP
Following two scoreless periods, ELPS (Eden, Lakeshore, Pioneer and Springville) forward, Nate Smith scored on a breakaway :37 into the third period for the only goal of the game as ELPS defeated Jamestown, 1-0, to win the Mixed School Championship.
Colton Hornquist recorded the shutout for the victorious ELPS squad, making several key saves in the losing moments of the contest.
At the other end of the rink netminder Collin Norlander was solid in goal, giving up the loan goal of the game early in the final period.
Rookie forward posted six points to help lead Rochester to a three-win, 20-goal weekend
(Rochester, NY) – The American Hockey League announced that Rochester Americans forward Jiri Kulich has been selected as the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending February 26, 2023.
Kulich tallied six points in three games to help spark the Rochester offense to a three-win, 20-goal weekend.
On Friday evening, Kulich recorded his first career two-goal game, his first three-point effort and his first game-winning goal, leading the Amerks to an 8-4 win over Laval. On Saturday, he notched a pair of assists as Rochester rolled to a 7-1 win at Springfield. And on Sunday afternoon, Kulich’s unassisted breakaway goal helped the Amerks put away a 5-1 victory at Providence.
Buffalo’s first-round choice (28th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, Kulich has compiled 16 points in his last 13 games and has totaled 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points in 42 games for Rochester on the season.
The 18-year-old native of Kadan, Czech Republic, also earned a silver medal and was named to the tournament all-star team at the 2023 IIF World Junior Championship last month.
During the regular season, Churchville-Chili scored ten goals over two games against Webster-Schroeder. But that’s why they play the games.
In a rematch for the Section V Class B championship, the Warriors clogged up the center ice area and came away with a 2-1 victory and the championship.
After a scoreless first period, Schroeder took a 1-0 lead at 5:25 of the second as defenseman Nolan Roughsedge assisted on Jason Simons tally.
Later in the second, the Warriors got an insurance goal as Simons entered the offensive zone one-on-one with a Saints defenseman before putting his low shot past the goaltender at 11:50.
Churchville-Chili hit the post late in the period and Luke Herring set up Gavin Carr for a one-timer at the period buzzer, but entered the third down by two.
The Saints got a power play with 4:40 remaining in regulation, but could not convert. They then pulled their goaltender for the extra-attacker with two minutes left and finally got on the board as Tyler Eberhart fed Jesse Prue in the slot with 38 seconds left, but could not get the equalizer.
Churchville-Chili outshot the Warriors 46-33 in the game with game MVP Colin Smith making 45 saves in the Schroeder net.
“Just confidence; we came in as a team kind of the third seed, we weren’t really favored and said ‘what do we have to lose—we’re playing with house money,” Smith said.
“I think what worked really well is we changed up our forecheck. They’re a really speedy team and…we came up with a trap where they can’t through that neutral zone with speed and, if you mess up their speed, they have no where to go. I think it was a really, really smart play by our coaching staff and the guys executed it perfectly.”
Webster-Schroeder moves on and will play the Section III champion in Syracuse Saturday, March 4th at 5pm.
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, Pittsford tied it in the second and then scored in double-overtime to defeat Victor and claim their third Section V Division I high school hockey championship in the past five years.
It also marked the fifth consecutive season the Class A final went into overtime.
Victor took a 1-0 lead in the first period as the Blue Devils won an offensive zone draw back to the left point where Michael Peluso’s shot found the top right corner for a 1-0 lead. Caleb Clark and Tanner Radogna were credited with assists. Victor outshot the Panthers 20-8 in the stanza.
Pittsford recovered to play a better second period and tied the game with two seconds remaining on a power play as defenseman Bradley Pollard came down the right wing and cut to the center before finding the back of the net at 14:07 with assists from Keegan Garver and Cole Mann.
After a scoreless third period and first overtime, the second line created the game-winner 4:31 in as Henok Kankinson fed a perfect pass to Colin Norton in the slot.
“Just moving to open space; my linemates working their tails off to get me the puck and I was just in the right place at the right time and out it right in,” Norton said. “It wasn’t the most challenging goal I’ve ever scored, but it might be the best.”
“We did a good job shutting them down and getting some offensive pressure after the first,” goaltender Aden Brown, who made 44 saves, said.
“They were killing us on faceoffs (in the first period), and most of their shots were coming from the point, so we had to do a better job in the faceoff dot both on wingers and centers,” 15-year Pittsford head coach Steve Thering said.
“Nobody believed in us, but we did,” Norton said. “We stuck together as a team, coach believed in us and we rallied through.”
Pittsford will meet the Section VI winner at Buffalo’s Harbor Center Sat. March 4 at noon in the state regional round.
One does not have to lead a team in goals or points or wins or save percentage to be a leader. It’s the little things such as remembering 20+ games into the season when a teammate scored their first collegiate goal to grab the puck as a souvenir. Or helping to kill off a penalty late in a one-goal game. Or keeping the vibe positive on the bench. Or filling whatever role the coach asks of you.
“She is our Swiss Army Knife,” Cortland women’s hockey head coach and former SUNY Brockport player Rick Filighera said of graduate student Quinn Metcalfe.
“She can do everything; I can have her on the power play in front of the net, she kills penalties, she plays late in games, she can play the wing and she can play with anybody. I tease sometimes and say maybe we’ll throw the pads on you once in a while.
“She comes from a hockey family and just knows how to play the game. And she’s another coach because, even on the bench today, you can hear her telling (her teammates) when to get pucks in deep and when to skate. She’s not overly fast, she’s not going to wow you out there by any stretch of the imagination, but she will chip in points and does the things some other players just don’t want to do.”
In the final regular season home game of her career, Metcalfe won an offensive zone face-off back to the point and the ensuing shot found the back of the net. The assist was her second of the season along with a career best four goals.
Metcalfe started the season slow offensively with no points over the first ten games. But she had three goals and two assists over the final eight games of the regular season—when it matters most.
“He always says he can put me in whether it’s on wing or center, power play, penalty kill; basically, if the lineup changes around he likes to put me in different spots,” Metcalfe said. “I had a slow start in the beginning (of this season) and really didn’t have many points throughout the first part of the season, but lately I’ve been finding a way. My linemates have been scoring to and everything has been clicking into place for the second half of the season; it’s been good.”
After playing four seasons of boys’ varsity hockey at Churchville-Chili, where she was a 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and also developing with the Rochester Monarchs program, she headed to Cortland.
(Metcalfe’s No. 10 Jersey on Sr. Night)
“I think playing on the high school boys’ team definitely helped me in terms of being physical on the ice, especially in games when it’s an especially physical game. I think it’s definitely helped me translate it over. They are definitely two different games playing with the guys versus the girls, but I think it was helpful growing up.”
With Metcalfe and other upper-class players, Cortland this season clinched the first home playoff game in the program’s history.
She wears #10 because of that family connection Coach Filighera referred too. Her father is Rochester Americans Hall of Famer and 1996 Calder Cup champion Scott Metcalfe.
“Both my brothers wore it as well and I’ve worn it as a kid, all through high school, travel and all kinds of teams and now, thankfully I have here as well.
And now the Biomedical Services major is making the next career move—she hopes to attend Veterinary school.
“The plan for the future is to go to Vet (veterinary) school; I’m filling out my application right now, so someday I hope to be a large animal veterinarian.”
The hockey player mentality comes to light again—always another goal to strive for and keep working toward it.
(Photo’s By Cortland Women’s Hockey and Warren Kozireski)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The SUNYAC releases its 2023 Men’s Ice Hockey All-Conference and All-Rookie teams as nominated and voted on by the conference coaches. Eighteen athletes from seven different institutions were recognized on the All-Conference teams while six different teams were represented on the All-Rookie team.
The 2023 SUNYAC men’s ice hockey semifinals are set for February 25. No. 1 Oswego will host No. 5 Buffalo State while No. 2 Plattsburgh will host No. 4 Geneseo at 7 p.m. The final will be March 4 at the highest remaining seed. Full Bracket.
The season has ended and for several players, their high school ice hockey career has ended. They now move into another phase of life, that being college and/or work and maybe hockey, or another sport at the collegiate level.
The Senior Night Ceremonies are both exciting and emotional and this year was no different.
Let’s learn what our ladies will be doing next.
Hamburg/Eden/West Seneca/Holland:
Riley Andzel: This young lady set records this season as a Team Captain. She has been a member of HHEWS for five years and will be graduating from West Seneca High School. She plans to attend the University of Massachusetts at Boston and will continue her hockey career there. Riley will be majoring in Criminal Justice. Her best HHEWS memory is trying to figure out the bigger HHEWS curse: Kayla or Katie! Not sure if she has the answer! Riley compiled 28 goals and 10 assists for 38 points this season. She was third on the year’s scoring stats list.
Katie Mruk played Center for HHEWS for two years and will be graduating from West Seneca West High School. She plans to attend college but is undecided as to where and what her major will be. She is also a soccer player. She too will not forget the “HHEWS curse”. Katie had two goals and five assists this season.
Tori Hart played Wing for one season with the team as Holland Central joined HEWS this year.
She will be playing collegiate hockey just down the Thruway at Utica College. Her major will be Nursing. She remembers taking senior banner photos with one skate on–anyone notice? Tori is also a field hockey and softball player. Tori had two goals and 12 assists this season.
WNYGVIH Champions KENGIPORT will lose a major part of their scoring and defense with the graduation of five players. KENGI added Lockport this season.
First up Goalie Jordan Hofschneider. Jordan played four years for KENGIPORT and will be attending UB and majoring in Business. Perhaps UB can add her to their roster. Her favorite memory is watching the geese video before playoffs. Jordan placed third on the Goalie Season List with a .917 save%. She played 231.63 minutes with a 4-0 record. Jordan is the daughter of Ray and Bree Hofschneider.
Megan Pinzel has spent five years on the KENGIPORT team and plans to major in architecture at a school to be named later. She will take with her memories of sectionals and traveling with the team. Megan played Defense for KGIP. Megan’s parents are Mark and Michelle.
Captain Maddy Flory heads of to Western New England to major in pharmacy and play D3 hockey. She has been with KGIP for five years and her favorite memory is winning sectionals last year. Maddy tied for first place in points with 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points. She is the daughter of Randy and Lara.
If you saw a KGIP game you could not miss Emiliana Cassillo. Emiliana played five years for KGIP and plans to major in criminal justice and play D3 hockey at a school to be determined. She enjoyed the bus rides to the States. Emiliana scored 20 goals and 7 assists this season and was there to set up other players for goals, as team captain. Emiliana is the daughter of Jason and Gina.
Carolyn Bourgeault made a name for her self between the pipes. She has been with the team for six years and will be attending Concordia University in Wisconsin, majoring in biology and playing D3 hockey and lacrosse. Her favorite memory is shutting out Monsignor Martin in the playoffs in her 8th grade year and breaking the shutout streak in the League this year. Carolyn sits in second place on the goalie list with a .958 save%, she played 627.04 minutes and comes away with a 12-2-1 record with 8 shutouts. Carolyn’s parents are Coach Marc and Mom Amy.
For anyone checking records KENGIPORT has the top three goalies in the League this season. Samantha Horne sits in #1 playing 90 minutes with a .973 save%, 2 wins, no losses for ties and one was a shutout.
One more team will see a big loss when they also lose some key goal scorers and goaltenders. Niagara County says good-bye to Mara Beiter. Mara graduates from Starpoint Central and plans to pursue a career in dentistry. She has been with NICO for five years. The Forward had two goals and five assists this season. Her parents are Craig and Jenn.
Number 7 Gabby Puff will be graduating from Niagara-Wheatfield High School and then going off to college to study Business Administration. She has been a member of NICO for three years. Maddy had two goals and two assists this season. She is the daughter of Greg and Tara.
Julianna Blaser graduate from Niagara-Wheatfield High School and plans to study Sports Management at a college to be determined. Julianna was a forward and she is the daughter of Nichole Gonzales and Russ Blaser. Another graduate looking at a career in Sports Management is Number 19, Paige Spatorico. She has been with NICO for four years and will graduate from North Tonawanda High School. Paige had five goals and 14 assists this season. Her parents are John and Jenn Spatorico.
Defender Arabella Ruest will graduate from Lewiston-Porter Central School and head off to college to study Public Policy. She recorded 3 assists this season. Arabella is the daughter of Eric and the sister of NICO Goaltender Kennedy Ruest.
For three years Mariela Mulready has protected the goal net and now she will be studying Accounting at college. She played 532.15 minutes this season with a .897 save% and 9-3 record. She is the daughter of Patrick and Maritza.
Frontier/Franklinville/LakeShore/Orchard Park is losing three players to graduate with Jordan Joyce, Maura Langdon and Emery Fitzery.
Jordan has been with the team for three years and while undecided about the college she will be attending, her focus will be on Special Education. She remembers doing a chest bump with Maura and then going out and scoring a goal. That was her single goal but she added two assists for a three-point season as a Forward. She is the daughter of Pat and Karen.
Forward Maura Langdon has been a “lifer” on the FFLOP team, a six year member she was a member of the State Championship Team, Section Championship team and two Federation Championships. She will be attending SUNY Cortland to study Physical Education, but will trade her hockey stick for a lacrosse stick at Cortland. Her favorite memory was traveling to Oswego and taking the State Championship as a seventh grader. Maura had 4 goals/5 assists for a 9 point season. She is the daughter of Joe and Heather.
Another “lifer” is Emery Fitzery. She was a member of the State Championship Team, and part of the Section Championship and two Federation Championships. She will be attending Hilbert College studying Criminal Justice. She also will remember the trip to and championship at Oswego. Emery’s parents are Corey and Becky.
Emery and Maura are the last members of the Historic 3 Championship Season, with a Section VI, Federation and State Championship all in the same season.
Lancaster/Iroquois/Depew/Alden recognized four seniors this season.
Allie Marshall joined the team as an 11th grader from Lancaster and completed her second season as a forward. She also played 6 years as a Lancaster field hockey player. A member of the High Honor Roll throughout her high school career, she was nominated for the All WNY Fall Scholar Athlete Team. She is a member of Lancaster High School’s Healthcare Academy, Math Honors Society and English Honors Society. She will be studying Business at a college to be determined. Allie had 2 goals/8 assists this season. Her parent are Keith and Michelle.
Kayla Buczkowski is a forward who played her fifth season for LIDA. She will graduate from Lancaster High School and attend Niagara University in the field of Biology. Kayla has also been a member of the Lancaster Girls Golf Team for the past six years and served as LIDA’s co-captain this year. She was the recipient of the Coach Carriero Sportsmanship Award in her freshman year. Kayla recorded 5 goals/6 assists this season. She is the daughter of Glenn and Danielle Buczkowski.
WNYGVIH’s #1 points-getter is LIDA’s Sydney Radecki. Another player you would see with the puck and the next time it would be headed toward and into the net. Sydney played 6 years for LIDA and served as the Assistant Captain this season. She graduates from Lancaster High School, where she was an Honor Roll student for four years. She plans to go on to Buffalo State College where she will continue her hockey career with the Bengals and study Childhood Education. Sydney was named to All WNY Second Team All Star as a Forward last season. She was also Lancasters Athlete of the Week in her junior and senior years. Sydney recorded 32 goal and 8 assists for 40 points this season. She is the daughter of Dennis and Susan.
Captain Emma Plotnicki has been a member of the LIDA team for the past three years. She was named Art Student of the Year during her junior year and is currently President of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at Lancaster High School. She plans to attend UB next year in their Nursing Program. Emma As a Defender she had two assists this season. She is the daughter of Lou and Ursula.
Clarence/Amherst/SweetHome will lose four players to graduation including:
Jenna Ellis from Amherst High School. This was Jenna’s first year on CASH, and her FIRST year of ice hockey. She loved learning the sport and meeting her teammates. She plans to study Physical Therapy after high school. She saw action in just two games but was part of the team all season.
Another first year player, Elaina Lorenz, also was just introduced to the game this season. Elaina is from Clarence High School and will go on to college to study Sports Management.
Veteran Sydney Spear joined CASH four years ago and served as Captain this season. She plans to study Math and Science after graduating from Clarence High School. Sydney kept CASH on the scoreboard with 8 goals and 4 assists this season.
Captain Isabella Zivis played five years for CASH and will graduate from Clarence High School. She plans to attend UB this Fall. Her favorite memory is playing in her first game as an 8th grader. Isabella had 4 goals/4 assists this season as a Forward.
Monsignor Martin loses a goaltender in Alena Desiderio. She has played for MMAA for four years and is also on the Nardin Cross-Country Team. She plans to enroll in biology and pre-med in college. Her proudest moment was her sophomore year when they took the Championship and her favorite memory are warm-ups because it was always different and fun. Alena played 304.62 minutes with a 1-5-1 record and one shutout. She had a .814 save%.
Another MMAA favorite Isabella Fedele will head off to study biology. She has been with MMAA for four years and also plays lacrosse at Mount Mercy Academy. The Forward had 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points this season.
Erin Prendergast graduates from Nardin Academy, where she also plays softball. She plans to major in riminal Justice in college. She served as an assistant captain and created many friendships, which are her favorite memories; along with winning the Federation Cup in her sophomore year with her winning goal. Erin had 6 points this season with 3G/3A. She has played four years for MMAA.
Trinity Kehoe played 3 years for MMAA and played travel hockey. She is also a softball player and a four-year member of Mount Mercy’s softball team and the varsity cheerleading team. She will be studying nursing at Lebanon Valley College will she will also be playing D3 ice hockey as a member of the Flying Dutchmen. Her favorite memory is winning the Federation championship in both her freshman and junior years. Trinity had two goals and one assist this season. She is the daughter of Tim and Tracy.
Courtney Bonner has played for MMAA since her freshman year at Sacred Heart. She is also a member of Student Council and plans to major in biochemistry on a pre-med track. She is proud to have served as Captain this season and has become close friends with her teammates. Courtney played Forward and 2 goals and 3 assists this season.
Number 8, Paige McGorry, played her first and last season for MMAA this year. She also plays varsity soccer for Sacred Heart. Her career path will be in Forensic Science. Her favorite memory is her first time on the ice with her teammates and everyone cheering. Her parents are Mike and Pam.
Williamsville celebrated three seniors this year with Alexandra Hennessy, Molly Martin and Victoria Burget.
Alexandra graduates from Williamsville North and plans to major in Business. She played Center for three years on Williamsville and her favorite memory was winning the Section VI Title in 2020. She scored 5 goals and 4 assists this season as a Forward. She is the daughter of Nicole Hennessy.
Molly could be found up and down the ice, with puck on stick and then into the net. The Williamsville North High School graduate plans to major in Childhood Education. Her favorite memory was the trip to the States in Lake Placid (ours too). Molly put up 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points this season. Her parents are Kevin and Maureen Martin.
Our last WNYGVIH graduate is Victoria who will graduate from Williamsville South in June. The Forward has been with Williamsville for five years and, she too, will always remember the trip to Lake Placid. She recorded 3 goals and 5 assists this season. Victoria will be playing LaCrosse for SUNY Fredonia while studying Exercise Science. She is the daughter of Drew and Theresa.
St. Mary’s of Lancaster had two seniors on the roster this season. Both Forwards with Elle Yuhas and Laura Haefner.
These amazing players will pass the torch on to their teammates to carry on not only winning records, but friendships and fun that seem a major part of the WNYGVIH Federation.
