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Warriors earn No. 1 seed heading into hockey states
The Cheektowaga Central varsity club hockey team is hoping to win its third New York State Small Schools championship in the last four seasons, but other squads, including Depew, will again try to spoil the Warriors' bid for greatness.
Central (44-4-1 overall) went 5- 0 in sectional play last weekend, pounding the Wildcats 9-2 in the championship game. Senior center Rob Szymkowiak completed an excellent tournament by tallying four goals and two assists against Depew, while senior defenseman Ryan Klein and sophomore forward Ryan Jaracz added four and three assists, respectively.
Senior forwards Jared Fischer and Steve Noworyta each tallied one goal and two helpers. Sophomore forward Tom Leone contributed one goal and one assist. Goaltender Chris Rinaldi earned the win between the pipes.
Warriors head coach Steve Ferrentino, whose team won its fourth consecutive sectional title, said Central is still capable of playing better overall.
"If we keep our composure and use our heads, we can make it to the crossover final four," said Ferrentino, who added that unnecessary penalties could hurt his topseeded team. "We still have to mature more. We've won so far but we didn't play as smart as we could have. Our best players need to keep their composure and play as a team if we're going to be successful. We've got to avoid all of the excess nonsense."
Central opened sectionals Friday with a 7-1 win over Maryvale. Szymkowiak recorded a hat trick, as well as one assist, while Fischer added two goals and two helpers. Jaracz and sophomore Josh Burgett each hit the back of the net once. Jordan Kasprzak earned the win in net.
The Warriors then crowned Depew, 8-4, as Jaracz tallied three goals and one assist. Szymkowiak, Leone and junior defenseman Adam Bobek each added one goal and one helper, while Burgett and Klein added single markers. Rinaldi recorded the win between the pipes.
In an 8-2 win over Southwestern/ Maple Grove, Burgett erupted for a hat trick, while sophomore defenseman Jayson Selbert added five assists and Bobek, two goals and three helpers. Jaracz (one goal, two assists), Leone (one goal, one assist) and Matt Budzinski (one goal) also got on the scoresheet.
Kasprzak earned the win in goal.
In a rematch of its Super Sunday game, Central skated past City Honors in the sectional semifinals, 7-4, as Noworyta (three goals, one assist) and Szymkowiak (one goal, four assists) led the locals' offensive attack. Klein recorded two goals and two helpers, while Fischer hit the back of the net once and tallied two assists.
Rinaldi earned the win in goal.
Depew (16-18-2) went 2-2-1 in the sectional tournament, losing to the Warriors twice, beating Maryvale and Lewiston-Porter and tying Southwestern/Maple Grove.
Depew opened sectional play with a 7-7 tie against Southwestern/ Maple Grove. The Wildcats, who led 6-3 after two periods, were led by Chris Kendall's three goals and one assist. Alfredo Scarpone and Kyle Polanski each scored two goals, with Scarpone assisting on another tally. Joey Paradowski contributed three helpers, while Dan Gorski and Pat Gillen each added two assists.
In an 8-4 loss to Central, John Leistner scored two goals, with Scarpone adding two assists. Ryan Full contributed one goal and one helper, and Kendall tallied a single marker.
The 'Cats then rebounded with a 4-0 shutout of Maryvale. Scarpone scored two goals, while Paradowski and T.J. Pilarz each hit the back of the net once. Joe and Dan Gorski each tallied two assists. Goaltender Ian Hurubise stopped all 36 shots he faced to earn the shutout.
In the semifinals, Depew came up huge with a 6-2 win against Lew- Port. Scarpone recorded two goals and one assist, while Gillen added one goal and two helpers. Kendall and Leistner each contributed one goal and one assist, while Antonio Scarpone and Paradowski added two helpers apiece. Full also hit the back of the net. Sophomore goaltender Ryan Clarke made 34 saves in net.
Depew, which enters states as the No. 2 seed in the West bracket, will face Starpoint at 9 a.m. on March 23. The locals will then play later that day at 7 p.m. against the No. 1 seed from the East bracket, and against Lew-Port on March 24 at 2 p.m.
States will take place at the Cheektowaga Recreation Center in Town Park. Semifinals will take place at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on March 25, with the championship being held at 5 p.m. that same day.
Maryvale and Cleveland Hill/ John F. Kennedy fell short of the states by each dropping three games in sectional play.
The Flyers, who finished their season 15-12-2 overall, went 1-3 over the weekend, losing to Central (7-1) Depew (4-0) and Starpoint (5-0 in the third-place contest). Maryvale's lone win came against Southwestern/Maple Grove, 5-4.
Senior forward Christian Wheeler recorded a hat trick against Southwestern/Maple Grove, while fellow senior Joe Bodkin added two goals. Defenseman Garrett Jacobs contributed two assists.
Wheeler also scored Maryvale's lone goal against Central.
Flyers head coach Roger Gmerek's squad is graduating six seniors- Wheeler, Bodkin, Jeff Szpylman, Steve Sacco, Matt Sullivan and goaltender Kyle Worley. Gmerek said the leadership of these players will be missed next season.
"The seniors' work ethic and locker room attitude was very good," the first-year coach told the Times. "They planted good seeds for the younger guys."
Cleve Hill/JFK, which finished 20-16-3 overall, lost all three of its sectional contests, 6-3 to Starpoint, 6-3 to Lew-Port and 10-4 to City Honors.
The Highlanders played without second-leading scorer Paul Hockwater, who was suspended late in the regular season by the Southtowns High School Club Hockey League for undisclosed reasons, as well as injured forward Bob Davies and defenseman Tyler Olejniczak.
Forwards Sean Olejniczak (senior) and Jordan Halligan (junior) combined to score six of Cleve Hill/JFK's 10 goals in sectionals.
Highlanders head coach Gordon Porterfield said playing with a short bench was difficult, but credited his team for persevering.
"It's very, very frustrating," Porterfield said of his squad missing a few players. "However, our seniors and underclassmen gave an outstanding effort. We took leads in each of our (sectional) games but we just ran out of gas in the end. We just didn't have enough."
Graduating Cleve Hill/JFK players include Hockwater, Sean Olejniczak, Nick Torgalski, Tyler Kubik, Dan Skoczylas, Josh Anderson, Keith Piatek and goaltender Jeff Smith.
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