Alexander

Alexander and Holley played to a 0-0 tie Thursday and Holley earned the Division 1 title with the tie.  It was a great defensive game from both sides and arguably the two most skilled goalies in the league showed why they have earned that reputation as they each had one huge save to keep the other team off the scoreboard.  Hannah Wilson stopped Holley's Emily Troup with a quick reaction save diving to her left to get a hand on a shot that Troup ripped from 10 yards and Wilson collected the rebound to keep Holley off the board in the 1st half.  Julie Brooks stopped Alexander late in the game on a scramble in front of the net that was eventually cleared by a defender to keep Alexander from sneaking in a late goal to steal the win.

It was a very even game with both teams keeping fantastic shape in the back and holding strong on their marking to only give up a handful of shots.  Alexander will be the 6th seed in Class C Sectionals and Holley looks to be the 4th seed in Class B Sectionals.

 Canisteo-Greenwood (2-4) at Alexander (3-3)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

You can call this Season 3 for the Alexander football team.

The first season was one in which the squad was pummeled by Oakfield-Alabama, Pembroke and Attica in the first three games of the season. The second was three straight wins over Holley, Elba/Byron-Bergen and Barker.

Now it is playoff time.

When Lucas Czechowski booted a field goal to give Alexander a 9-8 win over Holley in the fourth week of the season, it was just the start to a run that has earned the Trojans a home game in the Class DD playoffs.

His team now looks to make a run through the playoffs with Canisteo-Greenwood on tap in the opener and likely Caledonia-Mumford waiting in the finals.

The road ahead is a challenge as C-G has played some pretty stiff competition in teams like Le Roy and Cal-Mum during the regular season, probably Clyde-Savannah in the semifinals and the Red Raiders getting a bye week in the opening round.

Cal-Mum gets a rest during the opening week of the playoffs because Lyons had to cancel the rest of its season.

Alexander coach Dave Radley and his squad are not looking that far in the future just yet as the Redskins await in the opening round.

C-G has an offense that will keep the Alexander defenders on their feet on every play. The Redskins spend most of the game in a shotgun formation and run a lot of motion and option plays out of it.

Quarterback Mark Ahearn is a good runner and does a great job of drawing in linebackers before pitching the ball to running back Brett Marlatt.

The Trojans have seen a lot of different looks during Genesee Region League competition, but no team as diverse on the offensive side of the ball as Canisteo-Greenwood.

Ryan Piechoki, who is playing with a broken hand, leads the Alexander defense with 53 tackles and will get help from Ryan Wilson (26 tackles), A.J. Dybala (25) and Jordan Leitten (23).

Alexander will try to run the football and take advantage of scoring opportunities.

The offense has not put up any huge numbers this season but can move the ball and play the field position game as well as anybody.

Jay Schafer is the top rusher and has gained 514 yards with four touchdowns on 81 carries. Mike Woodrow has gotten more reps as the season goes on and finished the regular season with 210 yards and two scores on 39 attempts.

Piechoki has scored five times on 35 carries and will see carries in short yardage situations.

There has not been much of a passing game, which could be something the team will need in the playoffs to make a run.

Zach Burke completed 24-of-59 pass attempts for 291 yards, but has six interceptions to go with just one touchdown. His top target has been Czechowski, who has eight receptions for 104 yards, but he will also look in the direction of Steven George and possibly Leitten, who has big-play ability.

This is the second first round home game Alexander has ever hosted.

Just a reminder, high school football previews will be posted as I finish them tomorrow.

I will also be doing special playoff previews for Notre Dame and Alexander, which kick off their playoff runs on Saturday. 

Ryan Piechocki had a huge game for Alexander as the Trojans move up to No. 3 in the Section 5 Class DD playoff bracket, beating Barker 23-12.

This happened because Avon lost to Letchworth Friday night.

"We avoid Cal-Mum until the finals, if we can make it there" Alexander coach Dave Radley said. "That's a big step. Clyde-Savannah is a good team and if we beat Canisteo-Greenwood next week, we see Clyde instead of Cal-Mum. That's  nice for us."

Piechocki had three short touchdown runs, caused 12 tackles and forced a fumble for the Trojans, all while playing with a broken hand. He had seven yards and three scores on three carries.

Lucas Czechowski added a 38-yard field goal for Alexander and Chris Lambert blocked a punt to set up one of Piechocki's TDs.

Greg Brown scored twice for the Raiders (2-4). 

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Alexander lost for the 2nd time this week by a 1-0 score, this time to Byron-Bergen.  The loss dropped Alexander to 4th place in the league and 6th place in Class C Secional standings.

Alexander didn't get much going offensively in the game getting only one shot on goal during the game.  Goalkeeper Hannah Wilson made 12 saves in goal including a couple acrobatic saves in the 1st half to keep the game close.

Bergen scored their goal on a great dribbling play up the middle by #13 midway through the 2nd half.

Alexander closes out the season against Holley at home next Thursday.  Holley beat Pembroke 1-0 on Friday meaning if Holley can win @ Kendall and @ Alexander next week they will claim the Division 1 title.

 Barker (1-4) at Alexander (2-3)

1 p.m. Saturday

The Trojans have won two straight games and are looking to even up heading into the sectional playoffs.

Alexander is seeded No. 4 right now in Class DD and might have a shot to move up to No. 3 if Avon loses to Letchworth Friday night.

The Class D and DD playoffs start a week before the higher classes and if the season ended today, Alexander would host York in the opening round. If they can move up to No. 3, the Trojans would host Barker. Lyons or Canisteo-Greenwood next week.

Jay Schafer had the big game running the ball in last week's win over Elba/Byron-Bergen and is starting to put together a pretty solid year. He has 64 rushing attempts for 447 yards and four touchdowns.

Mike Woodrow has 180 yards and two TDs and Ryan Piechoki has 150 yards and two scores.

Those three are going to be the key against a physical Barker defense.

Zach Burke has had some struggles in the passing game (17-of-50 for 245 yards with 1 TD and 5 INT), but could look in the direction of Lucas Czechowski or Jordan Leitten this week.

Czechowski has shown a knack for hitting the big kicks this season.

Piechoki leads the defense will 41 tackles and will have to keep his eyes on Greg Brown, who has 418 yards and four touchdowns on 103 carries this season.

The Alexander Girl's soccer team was all but eliminated from the Division 1 title race after tieing Kendall 2-2 Wednesday at home.  Pembroke knocked off Bergen 3-0 and Holley knocked off Attica 1-0 moving Attica into 2nd place and Alexander into 3rd.

Alexander jumped out to an early 2 goal lead thanks to a header by Anna Dominick off a corner from Autumn Atkinson in the 11th minute and a header by Tessa Bigelow on a cross from Amber Finan in the 13th minute.  Kendall came right back as Kayla Browe shot a ball in off the crossbar and in just a minute later to make it 2-1.  With 12 minutes left in the half it was 2-2 as Kendall fired another shot high and in the far corner.

In the 2nd half Kendall was dominant for the first 35 minutes outworking Alexander and controlling play.  Kendall rang 3 balls off the crossbar in the half and was very unlucky not to put one in the net.  Alexander came alive in the last 5 minutes of the game and had two chances to go up 3-2 but couldn't find the net.

The OT came and went without a goal.  Alexander had more possession in OT but couldn't put a ball in the net and the game finished 2-2.

Hannah Wilson had a strong game in goal making 11 saves and getting her hands on several crosses to kill Kendall attacks before they got a shot off.

Pembroke and Alexander squared off in Pembroke Monday with sole possession of 1st place on the line and Pembroke came away with a well earned 1-0 victory in a hard fought game.  The 1st half saw only two real scoring chances, one by Pembroke which rang off the crossbar and one by Alexander that was blown offsides (quite possibly incorrectly) on a direct kick from midfield.  Pembroke had the better of the posession in the 1st half but neither team generated many good looks on the goal.

The 2nd half was a highly entertaining half which saw both teams create several scoring chances with none finding the net.  Alexander's 8th grade defender Abby Shilvock had Pembroke's top scorer Nicole Sharrick under wraps for the majority of the game as Sharrick only managed to put a couple dangerous crosses at the front of the net throughout the game.

In a 8 minute span in the middle of the 2nd half Alexander had 6 shots from inside the 18 but didn't strike any of them that well and none managed to find their way into the net.  Pembroke had a couple crosses that went through the 6 yard box on the ground but none of them were connected on the back post.

With both teams playing at such a high level it was going to take a mistake or fantastic shot for either team to put a goal in the back of the net.  With just over 3 minutes left in the game both happened on the same play.  An Alexander defender committed an unnecessary foul near the right sideline about 18 yards off the endline and the direct kick was fired in at the far post.  Goalkeeper Hannah Wilson couldn't get enough on her jump and the ball found the far side netting to give Pembroke a 1-0 lead.  Alexander pushed everything forward for the last 3 minutes but was unable to get a ball in the net.

It was a very even game overall with both teams accounting for 3 corners, around 8 saves for each goalie, and around 12 shots on goal.  It was a fantastic game, congrats to Pembroke on the hard fought win.  They are alone atop the GR standings 1 game ahead of Alexander (and they also hold the tiebreaker) with 3 games remaining for each team.  Holley is a game and a half behind with 4 to play and Bergen is 2 behind with 5 games remaining.

 The Alexander girls soccer team had some key players out with injury and had to fight through the rain and the cold wind that Genesee Community College's fields produce, but gained the experience of playing in those conditions to beat host Notre Dame 5-0.

The Trojans lead Division I of the Genesee Region League with an 8-4-2 record.

While the temperatures were cold at the start of the game, it didn't take long before the wind picked up and the rain started coming down. 

The conditions led to some sloppy play over the first 10 minutes or so, and both squads had opportunities to score off corner kicks but were not able to convert.

But Alexander settled in and took over after a few minutes.

Sophomore midfielder Tessa Bigelow took a pass from freshman forward Julia Pettys and scored 11:53 in.

Pettys then scored 14 minutes later to give the Trojans a firm 2-0 advantage.

Morgan Mattice scored 29:21 in off a pass by Savannah VanSon.

Exchange student Anni Lehtola pitched in a second half goal and Pettys assisted another Mattice goal in the closing moments.

Hannah Wilson only needed to stop one shot to earn the shutout for Alexander.

Notre Dame keeper Nicole Guilds stopped 10 shots in the contest as the Fighting Irish fall to 1-10.

Updated with video. Sorry for the poor sound quality. The wind was out of control.

Alexander had lost 2 in a row, both by 3 goal margains and was in desperate need of a win over Elba to avoid falling further off the pace in the GR Division 1 race.  They did just that with a 3-1 win over the Division 2 leading Elba Lancers.

Alexander went on top early in the game as 9th grader Julia Pettys (just recalled from JV) got a breakaway and fired it on net, it was saved by the Elba keeper, but Junior Anna Dominick ripped the rebound into the net to put Alexander up 1-0 10 minutes into the game.  The lead didn't last long as 5 minutes later as Alexander lost a 50/50 ball in their defensive 3rd on a goal kick and the ball was blasted into the net to tie the game at 1.  The 1st half was full of mistakes by both teams and ended 1-1.

Alexander came out much stronger in the 2nd half and it paid off 8 minutes in as Senior Rachel Pettys sent a cross in from the left side and Dominick beat the goalie to the near post and flicked it over the goalies head and into the net.  The goalie got her hands on the ball but was unable to keep it out of the net.

Alexander Goalie Hannah Wilson made the save of the game moments later as Elba Senior Chelsi Clark (the 2nd leading scorer in the league) sent a rocket on net from 30 yards out, but a leaping Wilson got both hands on it, tipped it into the air, and caught it before an Elba player could get her head on it.

Alexander iced the game with 7 minutes left as Rachel Pettys found her younger sister Julia on a through ball and the younger Pettys went in on a breakaway and calmly tucked the shot inside the left post to make the score 3-1.

Lost in the scoreline was the play of 8th grader Abby Shilvock who marked Clark the entire game and limited her to a handful of shots with only one being dangerous.  Shilvock, who is normally a midfielder, has really taken to her new role in the back and is taking a lot of pressure off of the rest of the defense by being able to take a player out of the other teams attack.

Alexander improves to 6-4-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the league and moves back into 5th place in the Class C Standings.  With 2/3 of the season gone Alexander is showing signs of improvement from their young lineup and if they can continue to show more poise on the ball they should continue to improve.

Alexander dropped a 4-1 decision to Wheatland in Wheatland on Monday to see their league record drop to 5-2-1 and overall drop to 5-4-1.  The halftime score was 1-1 after Wheatland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and Alexander tied it with around 10 minutes left to go in the first half.  The first half was very even possession wise but Wheatland had several chances that were saved by Alexander keeper Hannah Wilson in the games opening 10 minutes.

The 2nd half was a different story as Wheatland came out flying and never slowed down.  Wheatland buried a shot off a giveaway in the center of the field 10 minutes into the 2nd half and took only 4 minutes to make the score 3-1 after a great give and go that was finished off by Lauren Drago.  8 minutes after that it was 4-1 and the rout was on after Drago finished off her 2nd goal of the game.

Alexander struggled to complete passes in the 2nd half and Wheatland punished us for every mistake we made.  Alexander's best chance in the 2nd half came on a cross from Anna Dominick to Rachel Pettys but Pettys failed to get off a good strike and the keeper handled it easily.

Alexander's goal was scored by 8th grade midfielder Abby Shilvock.  Alexander finishes their 6 game in 10 day stretch Wednesday when they are home to Elba and are in need of a win to avoid falling further off the pace in the GR Division I race.  Wheatland improves to 7-2 overall and 6-1 in the league and is undefeated against the Division 1 teams in their crossover games thus far.

For the 3rd straight year it was York versus Alexander in the finals of the Kendall tournament and for the 3rd straight year York took home the crown.  Most of the York lineup returned from the team that knocked off Alexander 2-0 in OT in last years championship game while Alexander returned just 2 starters and only three other players that saw action in the game but Alexander hung tough throughout the game.

For the 2nd straight game 8th grader Abby Shilvock drew defensive responsibilities marking #11 from York who is their leading scorer and limited her to only a handful of shots.  #11 managed to score the first goal of the game on a full volley after #8 won a header and there was not much either Shilvock or goalkeeper Hannah Wilson could do as she buried it in the top right corner of the net.  The score was 1-0 at the half.

In the 2nd half York got an early goal on a corner kick that was nearly headed in and the attempted clearance was fired into the right side of the net for a 2-0 lead.  York would pick up a 3rd goal about 10 minutes later as a ball was stolen on the right sideline and crossed into the center where an Alexander defender's clearance ended up in their own net for a 3-0 lead.

York kept the pressure up for the remainder of the game and Alexander managed to hold them off thanks to solid defensive efforts from the entire backline and goalkeeper Wilson who made 14 saves on the night.

For Alexander defender Savannah VanSon, Midfielder Tessa Bigelow, and Forward Rachel Pettys were named to the all tournament team while Abby Shilvock was named Defensive MVP of the tournament.  Fantastic performances were also turned in by Goalkeeper Hannah Wilson and Defender Gabby Kwiatek.

Alexander sits at 5-3-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the league going into another big week where they will face Wheatland (@ Wheatland) on Monday and Elba at home on Wednesday.

Alexander continued their recent strong play with a thrilling 2-1 victory in Kendall Friday night under the lights.  The game was a 1st round game of the Kendall tournament and Alexander will face off against York in the finals Saturday at 7pm.

Alexander didn't take long to get on the board as Senior Rachel Pettys blasted on home 10 minutes into the game off a pass from Anna Dominick.  Alexander came out strong and controlled play in the beginning of the 1st half.  Kendall started to settle down after the goal and got Sophmore Kaila Browe involved in their offense and forced keeper Hannah Wilson to make a leaping stop that went off the crossbar to keep the score 1-0.  Browe was in just her 2nd game of the season after being out with an injury.

The 2nd half saw some back and forth action with Kendall controlling the possession but failing to solve Alexander's defense.  8th grade Abby Shilvock was assigned to mark Browe for the majority of the game and did a great job limiting her chances with the ball.

With under 20 minutes left in the game Kendall got a corner kick and sent it into the middle.  Alexander failed on several attempts to clear it and the ball sat 8 yards off the line when Browe stormed through and blasted it into the net to knot the game at 1. 

The game appeared headed for overtime as neither team could finish off a chance at their 2nd goal.  With 90 seconds left Sophmore Autumn Atkinson played a ball to an overlapping Junior Leah Johnson who got the cross in front of the net on her 2nd attempt at it where Pettys was waiting to send the ball into the back of the net with 1:17 left on the clock.

Alexander managed to kill the time off from there and pick up the win.  It was a well played game by both sides.

Kendall will play Albion in the consolation game at 5pm and Alexander will play York in the championship at 7pm.  Alexander's JV team will play York's JV team in the finals of the JV tournament at 3pm after Alexander knocked off Kendall 4-1 and York knocked off Albion 3-1.