Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018: Southwestern goalie stops two PKs for title

   Leading off today: Goalkeeper Declan Brown made two saves in penalty kicks, including one in the pivotal sixth round, to lead Southwestern past Lafayette 2-1 for the Section 6 boys Class B-2 soccer championship Wednesday.

   "I just don't know what to say right now," the sophomore said. "Honestly, it's surreal."

   Senior Chase Stevenson tied the game early in the second half with his 38th goal of the season and also scored the game winner in the sixth round of penalty kicks.

   Winning its first sectional title since 1997 advances Southwestern to a state qualifier contest Tuesday against B-1 champ East Aurora.

   "It took us so long to get out of the second round," Trojans coach Jason Deering said. "It kept stopping us. It kept stopping us. Last year we really thought we had the team to do it and the second round got us. We knew we had to be mentally strong and put in more work and we did it."

   Coach to the rescue: Spencerport girls assistant soccer coach Jody Wyant and Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Jayme Woodin are being credited with pulling an unconscious elderly woman out of a burning home in Parma on Wednesday afternoon.

   Wyant, who was headed home with his wife and three young daughters, spotted the fire and flagged down Woodin. The two located and rescued the woman, who is expected to survive.

   Wyant and his wife were carpooling Wednesday because he had to coach in the Rangers' 2-1 win over Wayne later Wednesday in the Section 5 tournament. Spencerport is a two-time defending NYSPHSAA champion and ranked first in the state in Class A this fall.

   "It just worked out that we were together that day, and it worked out well, I guess," said Wyant, who teaches social studies.

   Girls soccer: Grand Island has gone 74 Niagara Frontier League matches without a loss in the regular season but fell to Williamsville East 2-1 in the Section 6 Class A-1 semifinals as Emma Scalione scored twice.

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   HOF selections: Twelve players, coaches, and contributors have been selected for induction into the New York State High School Softball Hall of Fame.

   The New York State Sportswriters and Coaches Organization for Girls Sports made the announcement Thursday. The ceremony next spring will be in Herkimer on a date to be determined.

   Those selected for induction are:

   Coaches James Seeley (Glens Falls, Bolton, Hoosic Valley), Cathy Morano (Tottenville), and Tom Anziano (Connetquot);

   Players Kristin Gigliotti (2003 graduate of New Hartford), Tracey Osier (1994, Cicero-North Syracuse), Danielle Koltz (2009, Chenango Valley), Emily Senko (1999, Elmira Free Academy), Courtney Case (2013, Pittsford Mendon), Aidan Falk (2014, Rochester Our Lady of Mercy), Mandy Galas (1994, Tonawanda), Kristen Brown (2012, MacArthur) and Brittney Stratton (Tottenville).

   Following up: Greg Brownell of The Post -Star in Glens Falls wrote a thoughtful column in the aftermath of Tuesday's Section 2 decision to disqualify Lake George from the girls

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

volleyball sectionals because the team ex- ceeded the NYSPHSAA maximum for regular-season games.

   "I started writing this column 24 hours ago with the idea that I would back the Section 2 decision, because a rule is a rule," he wrote. "But I can't. I can't find words that justify destroying a team's season over an improper schedule. I can't accept that there isn't some other way to enforce this."

   You can read the full column here.

   More good reads: Lewiston-Porter senior Andrew Perreault is a two-sporter this fall, leading the boys cross country team to an undefeated record thus far and also starting at outside midfield for a Lancers in soccer.

   The preseason included up to 18 miles of running a day, starting with 8 a.m. soccer practice, a 10:30 a.m. cross country workout and more soccer at 3:30 p.m.

   "At his position, you're going end line to end line and there is a lot of demand in terms of endurance and running large amounts of space," soccer coach Rick Sweeney said. "His ability to push himself and cover territory and be fast late in a game after carrying large amounts of minutes has been big for us."

    • The Westlake football team is finally running out of players from the DeBiase family. Senior Andrew DeBiase is a fullback and the youngest of eight brothers to have come through the program.

   Oldest brother Michael, now 35 with two kids of his own, first stepped on Westlake's field 22 years ago.

   "I'd always go to the games when I was a kid and you'd hear all my brothers' names," said DeBiase, who enters the weekend with 1,052 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. "They've all been so good and I've always tried to live up to that. My goal was always to beat both of their records."

   DeBiase holds the program record with 40 touchdowns and is just 25 yards shy of the family career rushing record, a mark held by Jesse, the fifth-oldest brother.