Williamsville East, last year’s Division 2 Section VI champion and state runner-up, is on its way back to First Niagara Center. The Flames played a tougher schedule this year against the league’s larger and deeper schools, but through it all, they held onto a love for each other. And when Matt Cohen recorded a hat trick in Thursday’s 6-4 semifinal …
‘Never missed a beat’: Lucarelli and Dake’s chemistry leads Hamburg win
Time apart did nothing to break up the chemistry between Hamburg forwards Jason Lucarelli and Josh Dake. The linemates’ nearly unstoppable chemistry continued in Sunday’s 6-2 quarterfinal win over North Tonawanda, in which Lucarelli assisted two Dake shorthanded goals just 11 seconds apart. “We played together when we were younger, and we separated for a while, and it’s nice to …
Coppola leads full team effort in Hamburg win
Hamburg coach John McFall said that junior goaltender Griffin Coppola played his best game of the season on Sunday. “He made some great saves, very rarely gave up a rebound,” McFall said. “I think he caught seven or eight shots, just caught ’em right in his pads and core and didn’t give anything up. Not to give a team a …
Hamburg battles adversity in win over Lancaster
Hamburg seems to have figured out how to use adversity to its advantage. The Bulldogs even go so far as to hope that each opponent will come out with an intensity that they’ll need to match in order to be successful. “We were hoping that they would come out intense and they did, because when teams come out more intense, …
Kenmore East wins overtime rivalry battle
Kenmore East’s 5-0 win over Hamburg on Dec. 27 was uncharacteristic of games between the two rivals. On Sunday evening, they showed what makes their rivalry so strong with a game that went to overtime before Kenmore East came away with a 6-5 win. “Every time we play them, it’s pretty close,” Kenmore East’s AJ Marinelli said. “Last year they …
‘Not going down easy’: Hamburg continues point streak with tie
After getting the first league win of the season on Sunday and losing in overtime to Frontier on Monday night, Hamburg coach John McFall was disappointed with a 2-2 tie against red-hot Williamsville North on Saturday afternoon. It’s a stark contrast to earlier in the season, when the Bulldogs looked at their schedule against Division 1 and 2 teams with …
‘David against Goliath’: Hamburg fights for win over Niagara Wheatfield
Hamburg came into the season as the underdog of underdogs. The realignment of the divisions matched the small school against large schools this season. On Sunday night, Hamburg didn’t have a league win yet when the schedule pitted the Bulldogs against Niagara Wheatfield, last year’s large school Section VI champion. The Bulldogs could have looked at Sunday’s game as another …
Hamburg looking forward to tougher schedule
The way last season ended for Hamburg still haunts head coach John McFall and his players. For the third consecutive year, the Bulldogs fell to Kenmore East in the Section VI small school semifinals. But this time, Hamburg came closer to winning than ever before. “We’ve been knocking at that door for three years in a row, and we thought …