Leading off today: Ethan Witkowski's hat trick in the final eight minutes
rallied LeRoy to a 3-2 boys soccer victory against Mynderse in the Section 5 Class B2 tournament Saturday. Witkowski connected for the winner with under a minute to go to complete the comeback from a two-goal deficit.
Witkowski's first goal came with just under 8 minutes to play. He then converted a penalty kick one minute later. He completed the rally by gathering a loose ball in front of the net and sending it inside the far post with 43.1 seconds to go.
LeRoy improved to 12-4-1 heading into the semifinals.
More from Section 5: Liam Ebert became Wellsville's career goals leader when he scored twice during a 2-1 win over Dansville in the Class B2 quarterfinals. He was tied with Matt Billings at 57 goals before converting a penalty kick less than 10 minutes into the game after being tripped up in the box.
Prolific scorers: Lackawanna advanced in Section 6's boys B-2 soccer tournament as Ali Shawish scored his 48th goal of the season for a 1-0 win over Southwestern. The Steelers will take on I-Prep/Grover in the final.
Meanwhile, Scotia made it 17 wins in a row in girls soccer with a 2-0 victory over Queensbury, which ends the high school career of Brittany La Plant. The five-year varsity star ended up with 211 career goals, putting her second on the state's all-time list.
On Friday, Horace Greeley won a Section 1 boys Class AA game vs. North Rockland 5-1 as Matt Neuberger scored four times -- including a hat trick in a two-minute span of the first half.
"I knew that (North Rockland had allowed one goal in eight previous games), but I also knew that they probably hadn't seen an offense like ours," Neuberger told The Journal News. "We have a lot of different threats, so it's kind of like pick your poison. It's either watch the deep throw or watch the shot from the top of the box. It's a hard offense to stop."
Another football death: A Chicago high school football player died Friday after being injured on the last play a game the night before.
Bogan High athlete Andre Smith, 17, collapsed following the game against Chicago Vocational at Amos A. Stagg Stadium. The Cook County medical examiner's office said Smith died of accidental blunt force injuries to the head.
Smith is the first Illinois high school football player to die in three years, according to an official with the Illinois High School Association. His death is the nation's seventh related to high school football this year.
