Leading off today: Elmira Notre Dame administrators announced Wednesday morning they have withdrawn the Section 4 school's boys soccer team from this weekend's New York State Public High School Athletic Association quarterfinals.
The decision comes after Section 4 officials were alerted Friday that the Crusaders played the entire season with an ineligible player, the Star-Gazette reported.
Notre Dame scheduled to play Watertown's Immaculate Heart Central Saturday at the Wright National Soccer Campus in Oneonta. Instead, Lansing will will represent Section 4 with a berth in the Class C semifinals in Middletown on the line. (Updated Class C bracket)
Notre Dame defeated the Bobcats 2-0 Saturday in the Section 4 championship game. Lansing coach Adam Heck said on Friday, at the urging of multiple IAC coaches whom he wouldn't name, he alerted Section 4 of the ineligible player.
The player, who has not been named, transferred to the school this year, Heck told the paper.
"Whenever you have a transfer, you're juggling a lot of things in the books," Heck said. "And in Notre Dame's defense, I'm sure they're going to look at it thoroughly and do what's right.
"And with a private school, there's a little bit more there, it's a little trickier," he added. "I don't know everything about it; the section people, the transfer committee, they're the pros at that."
A hearing with representative of both schools is scheduled for Thursday at the Section 4 office in Sidney.
The soccer development is the second major eligibility issue in the state in two weeks. Last Tuesday, Aquinas was removed from the Section 5 football tournament after it was determined that quarterback Jake Zembiec played in the sectional quarterfinals without having been eligible in the minimum number of regular-season games.
Aquinas officials took that case to State Supreme Court, where their appeal to be restored to the playoffs was denied.
