Sunday, March 4, 2018: Section 6 hockey teams pull quarterfinal sweep

   Leading off today: Section 6 advanced all three of its hockey teams to next weekend's New York State Public High School Athletic Association finals fours at HarborCenter in Buffalo.

   Niagara-Wheatfield defeated Syracuse 3-1 in the Division I quarterfinals, and West Seneca West and Sweet Home advanced in Division II. West Seneca West downed Canandaigua 2-1 and Sweet Home eliminated Northeastern Clinton 3-1.

   West Seneca West was minutes from elimination before rallying for a pair of goals.

   Indians captain Parker Leemer tied the game with 7:15 left and Tyler Dunning scored the game-winner three minutes later as WSW reached the state semifinals for the first time.

   "It feels great to keep going," Dunning said. "I'm a senior so I don't want my Fed season to be over so I'm gonna keep working. Give it all I got every shift and keep grinding until the season is done."

   WSW goalie Noah Sobczyk was injured in a collision with 10 minutes to play but managed to remain in the game, which was crucial because the team's backup goalie was out of town. Had he been unable to continue, coach Kevin Rozo said the West Seneca West would have had to play with six skaters.

   Tyler Edholm scored twice -- his 29th and 30th of the season -- and set up the other goal to lead the way for Sweet Home.

   In the Division I quarterfinal, Nick Peters scored twice for Niagara-Wheatfield and assisted on the third goal to advance the Falcons to a semifinal vs. North Rockland.

   Peters scored at the 11:06 mark of the first period and then through the second to break a 1-1 tie. Michael Lotempio extended the lead to 3-1 just 36 seconds after Peters' second goal.

   N-W goalie Peyton Siegmann made 22 saves.

   Section 1 teams advance: North Rockland steamrolled Monroe-Woodbury 8-1 in the Division I quarterfinals as Jack Guerra, Chris Hilliard and Apicella each scored a goal in the first 10 minutes.

   The score at Sport-O-Rama was 8-0 just nine minutes into the second period.

   "It's a tremendous team accomplishment and I'm proud of them," North Rockland coach Gary Dworkowitz said. "It's gratifying to see how excited they are about where they're going. There are programs with more pedigree who've done this before and know what to expect. Our kids are wide-eyed."

   In Division II, John Jay Cross River defeated Queensbury 6-2 at Glens Falls Recreation Center as David Browne and Jack Browne scored a pair of goals apiece.

   "We talked about getting pucks to the net before the game, we knew the goalie was good," David Browne said. "Once they tied it up, we had work to do. We just went as hard as we can to the net and got good, quality chances."

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   CHSAA hockey: St. Anthony's surrendered the contest's first goal but went on to win the CHSAA hockey championship with a 4-1 victory over Lancaster St. Mary's.

   State gymnastics meet: Williamsville North's Madison Penetrante placed second in all four events on her way to winning the all-around title at the NYSPHSAA gymnastics

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meet at Cold Spring Harbor by setting a Section 6 record.

   Penetrante scored 38.225 points to break the sectional record of 38.05 set by Williamsville South's Gabbi Gare.

   She clinched all-around honors with a 9.40 in her meet-concluding uneven parallel bars routine. Miranda Lund of Plainview JFK was second with a score of 38.150 on the strength of a winning 9.65 score on the beam.

   "It came down to the wire," Section 6 coordinator Joe Buscaglia said. "She was neck and neck with the girl in second place and ended up winning by a tenth."

   Penetrante scored 9.575 on vault, 9.60 on the balance beam and 9.65 in the floor exercise.

   Williamsville South's Gare had to be pulled with an injury and only competed on the parallel bars.

   Nicole Jackson of Half Hollow Hills placed first in the vault with a 9.75 score, and New Hartford's Jensen Todd topped the uneven bars with a score of 9.50. Miranda Smith of New Hartford was first in floor extercise with a 9.80.

   Full results are available in our reference section.

   State cheerleading: Section 5 scored its second straight sweep of the five divisions at the NYSPHSAA competitive cheerleading championships.

   Canandaigua (90.40 points) and Avon (91.90) prevailed in the Division I and II small teams, respectively; Victor (92.70) and Wayne (91.90) topped the fields in Division I and II large fields; and Eastridge (91.50) placed first among co-ed squads.

   Avon, Wayne and Eastridge were also victorious a year ago. Avon has won championships in all three years of the state meet.

   Full results are available in our reference section.