Monday, Nov. 12, 2018: Monroe-Woodbury captures two soccer championships

   Leading off today: Monroe-Woodbury pulled off a soccer double on Sunday by winning NYSPHSAA boys and girls championships.

   The boys completed a 21-0 season with a 2-0 victory over Clarence in the boys Class AA final in Middletown. Midway through the final, the Crusaders learned that the girls squad had edged Bethlehem in their Class AA title game in Cortland.

   "When I heard that, I knew it was in the bag (for us)," senior Ikiel Collins-Brown said. "I was telling everyone on our team if we make it to the final, we already won in my mind."

   Christ Valle headed home the go-ahead goal midway though the first half and Colin Lagarde added a second goal 14 minutes later as M-W became the first Section 9 boys team to win the state's large-school title since Newburgh Free Academy in 2009.

   "I don't really have words to describe how proud I am and how happy I am with what they achieved," coach Kenny Clearwater said. "It's beyond incredible. It's a huge step forward for us. Some of these guys, Ikiel, Christian Garner and Joe Nastu, I've known since they were 7 or 8 years old. It's been fun to watch them grow up on the soccer field."

   The girls scored with 13:44 to play, courtesy of Kaelyn Salatto knocking home Colleen Kinsella's corner kick.

   "Everything happened so fast," Salatto said. "My heart just dropped."

   Monroe-Woodbury (19-1-1) blanked all four of its opponents in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament. Goalkeeper Angela Fini turned back eight Bethlehem shots in the final, getting help from the crossbar and a post during one wild scramble midway through the second half.

   "I am just so happy that we won and so happy that nothing went into the net," Fini said. "Today is a good day."

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   A first for Stillwater: Capping off a pulverizing run through the playoffs, Stillwater beat Little Falls 5-0 in Class C for its first NYSPHSAA championship in the sport.

   Junior Brooke Pickett connected for the first three goals in the final for Stillwater, which won three state tournament games by a combined 15-0 margin. Stillwater's total postseason margin was 39-1 over seven games.

   "The first one, that one was just like, 'Thank God. OK. Now we got to keep going,'" Pickett said. "That second one was more, 'Now we're on a roll. We can keep this up and we can win it.'"

   Stillwater (22-0-1) lost the 2017 title game to Allegany-Limestone 3-2.

   "When we got back to the finals, we knew we had to get it done and we were going to do anything we could to get it done," coach Christine Ihnatolya said.

   Kendall girls win: Kendall lost five games during the regular season, but all the setbacks were to Class B or C teams as a roster including 12 freshmen or sophomores got

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its bearings. Once the postseason began in Class D, the Eagles flew through seven opponents by a combined 18-2 margin.

   The final step was a 1-0 win over Fort Ann on Sunday.

   Junior midfielder Hailee Mitchell broke the scoreless tie with 18 minutes to play as Kendall earned its first NYSPHSAA crown in any sport.

   "We all wanted to play for each other and we all really wanted to win," Mitchell said. "Kendall's never won before, so we're all really excited. It's amazing. Our community is so supportive and all the girls were so excited coming into this game and we're all so happy that we won."

   Amityville boys win: Henry Martinez scored in the 20th and 52nd minutes to lead Amityville (21-0-1) past Somers 2-1 in the Class A championship game for its second title in four years.

   "He's got everything," coach Mike Abbondondolo said of Martinez. "If you need him to win balls in the air, he can. If you need someone to score or defend, he can do that because he's just pure quality."

   Lansing repeats: Lansing went back-to-back i Class C with a 3-0 win against Geneseo.

   Striker Erik Goehler gave Lansing the only goal it would need eight minutes into the game. After that, the Bobcats applied constant pressure that kept Geneseo from finding any kind of rhythm.

   "They made it hard for us to get anything going forward," Geneseo coach Chris Masters said. "Anytime we got the ball going forward, it came right back after we got a few touches. They've very fast, very skilled, very physical and that made it tough for us."

   St. A's girls repeat: St. Anthony's capped its second consecutive perfect season with a 3-0 win over Buffalo Nichols for the CHSAA soccer championship.

   Junior Brianna Jablonowski gave the Friars a 1-0 lead with just 58 seconds left in the first half and finished with two goals in the game and 20 for the season.

   Lakeland streak ends: Kylie Tierney scored with 25:54 to play as Garden City defeated Lakeland 1-0 for the NYSPHSAA Class B field hockey championship at Williamsville North.

   Lakeland was the nine-time defending champion and had not lost to an in-state opponent in a decade. Garden City lost one-goal games to the Hornets in the 2016 and '17 tournaments.

   "I've never been happier," Tierney said. "We've been waiting for this and working to get this done. It feels so good."