Cheektowaga, NY

Maryvale's Hall has high hopes entering senior soccer season By Steven Dlugosz Times SOCCER STAR...Maryvale center/midfielder Josh Hall enters his senior season having scored 69 goals during the last three years of his Flyers varsity soccer career. (Times photo) Maryvale High School senior Josh Hall has accomplished a multitude of career soccer achievements, such as netting nearly 70 goals and garnering three consecutive First-Team All-League selections. Despite that success and a Flyers' league title in 2006, Hall has an unfulfilled goal to accomplish this year- helping Maryvale advance deeper in the Section VI postseason. Despite being seeded as high as No. 4 in Class A the last three seasons, the Maryvale boys soccer squad has come up short in the prequarterfinals to lower-seeded opponents- rival Cheektowaga Central in 2004, Lewiston-Porter in 2005 and West Seneca East in 2006- all in onegoal defeats. Last season, Hall approached the 30- goal mark, as the Flyers finished 14- 4 overall and won the Erie County Interscholastic Conference III title, its first league championship since the 1970s. However, the Flyers then dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in overtime to West Seneca East. OBSTACLE COURSE...Cheektowaga Central boys varsity soccer players practice ball control Monday. (Times photo) Maryvale graduated 11 seniors from the 2006 squad. Flyers head coach Tom Staebell, returning to the bench for his sixth season, described Hall as a team leader who should have a great senior campaign. "He's a good player with good speed," Staebell said of the center/ midfielder. "He's one of the most talented players in the division." Staebell added that senior midfielder/striker Andy Reidy will also have a big impact this season, as will senior defenders Nick Law and Jim Dominquez. The Flyers coach described sophomore newcomers Brandon Macie (defense) and Frankie Tho mpson (midfielder), as well as junior midfielder Brian Macie (older bother of Brandon), as hard workers who will play critical roles for the team this fall. Staebell listed Starpoint, Central, Amherst and Depew as Maryvale's toughest competition in ECIC-III this season. "We've just run into some really good (scorers) on other teams in the postseason the last couple of years," Staebell told the Times. "We've got to work hard and hopefully we'll be there in the end this year." KENNEDY CAPTAINS...John F. Kennedy girls varsity soccer tri-captains, from left, Callie Weigand, Jen Jankowski and Nicole Powell pose during Wednesday's practice. The trio is among several talented returning players to coach Brian Flynn's roster, which features a school-record 21 athletes. The Lady Bears open their season September 4 at home against Cheektowaga Central at 4 p.m. (Times photo) The Flyers open their season next weekend in the annual Maryvale Soccer Tournament. Hall, who has already tallied 69 goals in his Flyers career, said he's embraced his role as a senior leader this fall. "It's a lot different now from when I was a freshman," said a smiling Hall. "Now, I find myself keeping on guys and getting them going. Sometimes, it takes a little yelling." The senior added that Starpoint and improving Cheektowaga Central should be Maryvale's toughest opponents. He said the Flyers' chances of advancing in the postseason depend on the team's dedication. TEAM LEADERS...Cheektowaga Central boys soccer senior tri-captains Alex Visbicky (attacker), (Matt Weigand (defense) and Jonah Messina (defense) hope to lead the Warriors to another winning season this fall. (Times photo) "A lot of winning and losing comes from our conditioning," Hall said. "We've got to be ready when the competition gets harder. Playoffs bring out the best in teams." Hall, who Central coach Matt Haberl described as the best player from the local area in "quite some time," added that he will play soccer at the collegiate level after this season, although he has not yet decided where he will attend school. Central enters soccer season with newfound confidence After many years of struggling just to win multiple games in a season, the Cheektowaga Central boys soccer team made great strides to solidify itself as a bona-fide contender in 2006. The Warriors achieved their firstever winning season last year, going 6-5-1 in ECIC-III before losing to Iroquois, 9-1, in the Section VI Class A playoffs. This fall, Central returns many of its core players that have experienced the growing pains and rise to respectability. First-Team All- ECIC-III selections Alex Visbisky (senior attacker) and Jonah Messina (senior defender), as well as Second- Team All-League selection Jared Messina (junior center/halfback) are back in the fold. Also, senior defender Matt Weigand, senior attacker Anis Shaibi, sophomore halfback Dominic Parisi and junior sweeper Derek Andrews will play big roles on the Warriors this season. Jonah Messina, Visbisky and Weigand will captain Central's 20- member squad this fall. Other athletes Haberl said who should see a lot of playing time include junior Josh Burgett, who will likely start at goalkeeper after not playing soccer in 2006. He replaces star goalie Chris Hannel, who graduated after receiving Second Team All-ECIC-III honors a year ago. Ryan Weber, attacker Danny Kruszynski and defender Jon Gworek are other talented youngsters Haberl said will make their mark in 2007. The Warriors coach stated that he expects Shaibi to at least reach the 10-goal plateau this fall, adding that many of his players' athleticism is their strong point. "We have a really nice team," Haberl said of his squad. "It's a group that couldn't wait for this year to come. I've got guys that have been with me for a couple of years on varsity." Haberl added that the team's goal is to make a run at the league title, not just another winning season. "That's the idea," Haberl said of obtaining ECIC-III's top spot. "If you're not here to win a championship, you shouldn't be here. It's not like the 1980s, when teams knew playing against Cheektowaga was an automatic win...This is the strongest group of guys I've had here. They've been in the system and they're ready to go." The Central coach added that Maryvale and Starpoint should be the Warriors' toughest competition in league play, though he later stated, "We'll be right there with them." Central opens its season September 5 at Eden, with game time scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The Warriors' season opening contest at Niagara- Wheatfield was rescheduled due to an insufficient amount of practices for the teams. JFK girls have big numbers entering soccer campaign For the first time in his coaching tenure, Brian Flynn will have large numbers at his disposal with the John F. Kennedy girls varsity soccer team. Two-thousand seven is also the first time in Flynn's tenure behind the bench that JFK will have a girls junior varsity soccer squad. A school-record 21 athletes comprise the Lady Bears' varsity squad, which finished just 2-12 overall in 2006. Flynn is excited about his team, which graduated just three seniors from last year's roster. Returning are tri-captains Jen Jankowski, a senior and three-year starter as a center and midfielder; Nicole Powell, another three-year starter as a junior sweeper defender; and Callie Weigand, a senior defenseman who received the ECIC-IV Sportsmanship Award in 2006. Chelsea Zogaria, a senior forward and last season's leading scorer, is also back in the fold, as well as sophomore defender Sam Sieg. Newcomers that have impressed Flynn so far in practice include sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Weiss, who Flynn described as "an excellent all-around athlete," as well as fellow sophomore midfielder Lindsay Baker and freshman attacker Janet Kacprowicz. The JFK coach described Powell and Sieg as the team's defensive anchors. The starting goalkeeper position has yet to be decided, as upp erclassmen Kayla Federowicz and freshman Sara Podsiadlo are battling for the No. 1 spot. Flynn added that he believes the Lady Bears can at least compete in the middle of the pack in ECIC-IV, based on his team's upgraded versatility compared to past seasons. "This is definitely the most successful that we've been, numbers wise," the coach told the Times. "We're looking to improve based on the number of talented girls coming back...With the big numbers and talent we have, I can call more set plays with corner kicks and others, instead of re-teaching the fundamentals." Richard Mattison will coach the JV team. The Lady Bears open their season at home against non-league and local opponent Cheektowaga Central at 4 p.m. JFK opens ECICIV play at Lackawanna on September 11 at 4:30 p.m.