NYSSWA: New York State Sportswriters Association

NYSSWA rankings are updated weekly.
See the latest plus the earlier weeks'
updates on our rankings page.

Leading off today: The Sayville girls continued an inspired march in girls soccer yesterday, scoring a 4-2 victory over Shoreham-Wading River to reach the Section 11 Class A final.

Sayville coach John Schroeder died earlier this season at the age of 64. The players have brought a folding chair, which has remained empty, with his name on it to games since. Had he been at the semifinal, he would have seen four first-half goals, including two by Dari Sellitti, in a convincing performance. Sayville is ranked 11th and S-WR fifth by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

North Rockland girls lose: Horace Greeley, ranked 10th in Class AA, won at No. 5 North Rockland in the Section 1 girls soccer tournament for the second straight year, scoring a 3-1 victory.

Greeley goalie Kristen Guernier made 12 saves.

Oops: Faulty work by the officials may have knocked Smithtown East out of the Section 11 Class AA girls soccer tournament Monday.

As a result, Northport won on penalty kicks, 8-7, and beat Smithtown West in OT the next day to advance to the semifinals against East Islip this afternoon.

Northport and Smithtown East were tied after regulation and overtime, and they remained tied at four apiece after the five-round penalty-kick shootout. Northport then missed its next kick kick and then Danielle Toritto scored for Smithtown East.

The game should have ended at that point with Smithtown East winning, but the officials allowed four more kicks by each team. Northport ended up with the 8-7 triumph and Smithtown East lost any chance of overturning the outcome by not protesting.

"Different (soccer organizations) have different rules," Smithtown East coach Danielle Solomon told Newsday. "The referees decided to do it that way and it wasn't the correct format."

Compounding the issue, the officials also ruled that only the players on the field in the second five-minute overtime were eligible to take penalty kicks, which Section 11 interpreter Russ Huber said is wrong.

Random football ramblings: It's very cool to see The Buffalo News blogging sectional championship games from Ralph Wilson Stadium tonight. That outfit, owned by a certain "Oracle of Omaha" who is known for his investment genius (Warren, thanks for turning me onto PetroChina stock in February; I've moved up my expected retirement age by three years) but has a history of shunning technology he doesn't understand, took forever to be dragged into the 21st century earlier this year but has been embracing technology at an admirable pace since then.

We over-reported yardage for Canandaigua senior Kaheem Gist in Sunday's blog. He actually ran for 285 yards (not 385) in the playoff victory over Rochester Marshall.

Newsday alum Jason Molinet has created the definitive preview page for the CHSFL Class AAA tournament.

One of the frequent contributors to the Syracuse.com forum went to the CalPreps.com computer rankings site and pulled down the hypothetical point spreads on this weekend's sectional playoff games. Here's what the computer projects:

Class AA
-----------
Troy LaSalle         2      Guilderland
Orchard Park        19      Lancaster
Rush-Henrietta       3      Canandaigua
Cicero-N. Syracuse   1      West Genesee
North Rockland      10      Clarkstown South
New Rochelle         7      John Jay, CR

Monroe-Woodbury     11      Minisink Valley
Union-Endicott      13      Binghamton

Class A
--------
Cornwall            24      Wallkill
Indian River        31      Potsdam
Carthage            14      New Hartford
Burnt Hills          5      Lansingburgh
Maine-Endwell        6      Corning East
Aquinas              7      Eastridge
Ossining             1      Fox Lane
Cheektowaga          3      Sweet Home

Class B
-------
Chenango Forks       7      Chenango Valley
Depew                8      East Aurora
Bath                 1      Geneva
Westhill             3      Cazenovia
Peru                20      Beekmantown
Cobleskill           2      Ravena
Rye                  2      Sleepy Hollow
New Paltz           12      Burke Catholic

Class C
--------
Tupper Lake         27      AuSable Valley
Cambridge            7      Schuylerville
Falconer             1      Cleveland Hill
Le Roy               7      Pembroke
Mount Markham        1      Bishop Ludden
Dobbs Ferry         21      Bronxville
Sullivan West        5      Tri-Valley
Unatego              6      Lansing

Class D
--------
Bolivar-Richburg     7       Dundee
Randolph             7       Portville
Eldred               7       Chester
Onondaga            13       Dolgeville
Ticonderoga          4       Moriah
Canajoharie          2       Fort Edward
Walton              26       Deposit
Tuckahoe             9       Haldane

Remember, the info is for recreational purposes only. The NYSSWA frowns upon betting on high school sports.

The hammer comes down: A Stockton, Calif., high school football team had the remainder of its season canceled and was ordered to shutter its program until 2010 after defying rules and using three banned players Friday.

The California Interscholastic Federation announced the new sanctions — possibly the harshest in the history of U.S. high school football — yesterday. The issue began with a sixth-month CIF investigation that determined that Franklin High was illegally recruiting players from American Samoa and providing benefits to the players' families.

The school was ordered last week to bench the players, forfeit 19 victories and sit out the playoffs for five years, but the coaches defied the player ban last weekend.

Head coach Tom Verner sent in his resignation letter this afternoon, and Principal Scott Luhn complained that the sanctions unfairly penalize other players.

On Wednesday, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland called for a legislative hearing to look into the CIF.

Extra points: Norman Bounds, a legendary Rochester schoolboy basketball player in the 1960s, has been charged with abducting his former girlfriend, the Democrat and Chronicle reported. Bounds, 58, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Monroe County Court to the felonies of second-degree kidnapping and third-degree intimidating a victim or witness in connection with an Oct. 11 incident. Bounds was known as "Stormin' Norman" while leading East High to two Section 5 championships.

1/10/25: Four L.I. districts still battling mascot rule

1/8/25: All-state football: Classes B, C, D and 8-man

12/20/24: Canastota's Laidlaw chalks up 900th win

12/17/24: William Floyd assistant dies in car crash

12/11/24: AD at Sec. 2 powerhouse will step down

12/9/24: Girls soccer all-state selections announced

12/8/24: Recapping the weekend NYSPHSAA football finals

12/7/24: Which mascots replaced Indians, Warriors?

12/6/24: Publics vs. privates issue resurfaces

12/5/24: NYSPHSAA makes rare mid-year class change

12/2/24: Short-handed Conn. team forfeits playoff game

12/1/24: Massapequa hockey player dies during game

11/27/24: Column: Crisis in Sec. 5 small-school football

11/24/24: PSAL cracks down, imposes hoops forfeits

11/22/24: Bayport-Blue Point football extends streaks

11/19/24: Some thoughts following the playoffs weekend

11/15/24: Plainedge football pulls off last-play win

11/8/24: Court restores Syracuse ITC to grid playoffs

11/6/24: West Islip girls soccer advances on PKs

11/5/24: Newburgh forfeits sectional football opener

11/2/24: Top-ranked 'D' football team's season over

10/31/24: Herricks' Walia wins state tennis singles title

10/28/24: S-WR senior making the grade in 2 sports

10/27/24: Copiague football ends its record losing streak

10/26/24: Herkimer gridders claw way back to .500

10/25/24: Girls lacrosse schedule proposal nixed

10/22/24: NYSPHSAA Exec Committee meeting preview

10/19/24: Albany CBA wins Sec. 2 football showdown

10/18/24: Baldwinsville cracks 'USAT' eSports rankings

10/16/24: Wisc. hits schools hard for paperwork glitch

10/14/24: Bethlehem girls, Macchia win Eastern States

10/13/24: Iona Prep slips past Hayes in 'AA" showdown

10/11/24: La. QB throws for 817 yards in overtime loss

10/10/24: Report: N.Y. girls to join transgender protest

10/7/24: More eight-man teams left stranded in Week 5

10/5/24: 18 ranked N.Y. football teams fall in Friday action

10/4/24: Longest U.S. football futility streak continues

10/3/24: Syracuse.com's twist on fantasy football

9/30/24: M-E edges Waverly in battle of No. 1 teams

9/27/24: Report: Sec. 3 athletes flock to NIL Club

9/25/24: Ex-Kellenberg QB sets off an NIL drama

9/23/24: NYSPHSAA warns about potential NIL isssue

9/21/24: South Park's Nunes shatters N.Y. rushing record

9/20/24: Storytelling in H.S. sports is alive and well

9/19/24: Longtime SWR coach Paul Koretzki, 84, dies

9/17/24: Western N.Y. teams embracing Guardian Caps

9/15/24: N.J. shows us N.Y. football has a ways to go

9/14/24: Another UPrep game, another fan incident

9/13/24: Ohio wrestles with aftermath of shootings

9/11/24: Mass. school forfeits over male opponent

9/10/24: Regents table vote on expanding mixed competition

9/9/24: Shot clock experiment will change lacrosse

9/7/24: Garden City sets L.I. football record

9/6/24: Lawsuit takes aim at N.C.'s NIL ban

9/5/24: New York's Week 0 football intrigue

HOME
BLOG
RANKINGS
BRACKETS
REFERENCE
KERR CUP
ABOUT US