Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014: Lansing protests Elmira ND sectional soccer title

   Leading off today: Section 4 will convene a hearing Thursday afternoon to determine without Elmira Notre Dame should be stripped of its boys sectional soccer championship, the Ithaca Journal reported Tuesday afternoon.

   Adam Heck, athletic director and boys soccer coach at Lansing, filed a protest with Section 4 contending Notre Dame used an ineligible player this season and should not represent Section 4 in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C tournament this weekend.

   Notre Dame earned its first championship in 28 seasons with a 2-0 win over Lansing in the sectional final in Oneonta. That win advanced the Crusaders, who also beat Lansing twice during the regular season, to a matchup vs. Watertown Immaculate Heart Central, scheduled for Saturday morning in Oneonta.

   A successful protest would presumably send Lansing to that game in place of Notre Dame. Lansing has made three straight trips to the NYSPHSAA final fours, losing in the title game in 2012 and '13.

   The circumstances surrounding the alleged ineligibility were not immediately known. Section 4 executive director Ben Nelson will hear the protest Thursday at 2 p.m.

   Major blow to M-W's hopes: Monroe-Woodbury earned the Section 9 Class AA boys soccer championship Monday by beating Warwick 2-1, but the 2013 state semifinalists paid a heavy price.

   Senior striker Bruce Jeter, who was the Times Herald-Record's 2013 player of the year, suffered a fracture above the ankle during a freak play late in the second half, the paper reported.

   Jeter, who had moved to defense to help M-W protect its lead, was injured in a collision with Crusaders goalkeeper Matt Apicella and Warwick forward Nick Daigle. The game was stopped for 30 minutes as Jeter was treated on the field and taken by ambulance to an area hospital.

   Jeter waved to the fans and the Monroe-Woodbury section serenaded him with chants of "We love Brucie," the paper reported.

   "When we got into the locker room, there were tears in the players' eyes," Crusaders coach Pat Bulla said, referring to the delay while Jeter was being attended to. "Basically, I said to myself, 'I have to get them back up and into this game.' I told them they needed to do it for themselves, they needed to do it for the fans, they needed

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to do it for Bruce. They came out and that's exactly what they did. They held them off."

   Jeter, already selected to play in a national senior all-star game next month in Raleigh, N.C., recently committed to Marist College.

   Monroe-Woodbury faces Section 1 champion John Jay East Fishkill on Wednesday in the first round of the NYSPHSAA Class AA tournament at Arlington High School. John Jay scored a 4-0 win over Monroe-Woodbury in a non-leaguer Oct. 10.

   Long Island soccer: An own goal five minutes into sudden death gave seventh-ranked Walt Whitman a 2-1 win over No. 2 Brentwood in the Section 11 Class AA boys soccer semifinals Tuesday.

   The Wildcats' Mike Lorello sailed a free kick from near the sideline into a pack of players inside the penalty area, where the ball deflected off the head of a defender and into the net, stunning the home crowd.

   Walt Whitman will play Commack on Thursday for the Suffolk County championship.

   Following up: Mattituck became the first boys soccer team to win five consecutive Section 11 championships Saturday by beating Center Moriches 2-0.

   The Tuckers play Wheatley today in the first round of the state Class B tournament.