Aquinas Institute football, along with the girls' soccer teams from Our Lady of Mercy and Elmira Notre Dame, all have fresh hardware for their trophy collections.
AQ won its sixth consecutive Section 5 championship by thumping rival McQuaid Jesuit, 40-3, in the Class A title game played Nov. 4. The Little Irish then reached the state semifinals and posted a final record of 10-2.
Mercy won the Section 5 Class A girls' soccer title with a 3-2 decision over Pittsford Mendon in the final on Nov. 5. The Monarchs, who finished with a 13-3-4 record, were then eliminated in the state quarterfinals.
Elmira Notre Dame earned a Section 4 Class C cochampionship with a 1-1 overtime tie against Lansing in the final on Nov. 4. The Crusaders won an ensuing penalty-kick round to move on to the state tournament, where they were stopped in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame's final record was 16-3-1.
Aquinas football
The Little Irish, seeded No. 4 in Section 5 Class A, routed No. 7 McQuaid in the final as Billy Lombardi ran for 189 yards and three touchdowns while Cory Benedetto threw three TD passes.
AQ had begun sectionals with a 35-3 win over No. 5 Wayne on Oct. 21 as Lombardi had 239 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns. Next was a 21-0 semifinal triumph over No. 6 Honeoye Falls-Lima on Oct. 29 as the Irish broke away from a 0-0 halftime tie thanks to touchdowns runs by Lombardi and Benedetto and a scoring pass from Benedetto to Jamahl Pardner.
The state Class A tournament, where Aquinas was defending champion, started with a 49-20 quarterfinal win over Buffalo Sweet Home of Section 6 on Nov. 11. AQ took a 49-7 lead at halftime and Lombardi finished with 239 yards on 20 carries with four TDs. However, the Irish were stopped on Nov. 18 by Maine-Endwell of Section 4, 19-16, in semifinal play despite another monster performance by Lombardi, who had 236 yards on 29 carries and scored both AQ touchdowns.
Mercy soccer
In the sectional title-game win over No. 2 seed Pittsford Mendon, Tricia Gould put top-seeded Mercy up 1-0 in the first half, and Julia Delgatti scored twice in the second half as the Monarchs established a 3-1 lead and held off a late rally by the Vikings.
Mercy had begun the playoffs with a 2-0 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Wayne on Oct. 29 as Gould and Jamie Urlaub netted goals. Then came a defensive struggle on Nov. 2 against No. 4 Aquinas, which saw Mercy win 4-3 on penalty kicks after the teams fought to a 0-0 tie through regulation and overtime. Mercy's Alana Oliveri made 16 saves and scored in the penalty-kick shootout as well.
The Monarchs' season was ended in the state Class A quarterfinals on Nov. 12 by Williamsville South of Section 6, 1-0, despite 18 saves from Oliveri.
ND soccer
In its Section 4 final, third-seeded Notre Dame took a 1-0 first-half lead over top-seeded Lansing when Rachel Lamoreaux scored on an assist from Hannah Haskell. Lansing tied the game on a late goal, and the score remained knotted at 1-1 after regulation and overtime as both teams were declared cochampions. Haskell then made the deciding penalty kick as the Crusaders won the shootout, 4-3, to move on to state play.
Earlier in sectionals, Notre Dame had won 2-0 in quarterfinal play over No. 6 Greene on Oct. 28 on goals from Lamoreaux and Allegra Dawes, and 4-0 over No. 2 Unatego on Nov. 1 as Lamoreaux had two goals and an assist.
The Crusaders' year concluded in the state Class C quarterfinals on Nov. 12 with a 2-1 overtime loss to Tully of Section 3, despite a second-half goal by Haskell that produced a 1-0 lead.
Lamoreaux set school single-season records this fall with 40 goals and 101 points.
More highlights
Christine Schmitt, a standout golfer from Mercy, won her second consecutive Section 5 championship on Oct. 11. Schmitt shot a 2-over-par 76 at Locust Hill Country Club -- including a 2-under-part 35 on the front nine -- to win by four strokes. She has now qualified for the state tournament this coming spring along with Mercy teammates Danielle Fuss, who finished fifth at sectionals with an 84; and Sara Quinn, who was eighth with a round of 87. The top nine sectional finishers move on to states.
McQuaid football scored a pair of upsets from its No. 7 seed position in the Section 5 playoffs to reach the Class A final against Aquinas. The Knights won 24-17 in overtime over No. 2 Eastridge on Oct. 21 in quarterfinal play, as Charlie Meagher scored the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter as well as the winning score in OT. The Knights then earned a 28-21 semifinal victory over No. 3 seed and previously unbeaten Brockport on Oct. 29, as Theo Ekiyor ran 34 times for 158 yards, including the tying TD and two-point conversion in the third quarter and the winning TD in the final period. McQuaid's final record was 7-3.
Aquinas boys' soccer reached the Section 5 Class A final. The Little Irish, seeded fifth, scored an 8-0 first-round win over No. 12 Greece Olympia on Oct. 25 as Nick Tata logged three goals and an assist; 1-0 over No. 4 Pittsford Sutherland in quarterfinal action on Oct. 28 as Tata scored on an assist from Matt Roorda; and 4-0 over top-seeded Pittsford Mendon on Nov. 3 as Tata had three goals and Chris Chiarella added the other. The Little Irish were stopped by No. 2 Brighton, 2-0, in the title match on Nov. 8. AQ ended up with a record of 10-7-3.
Aquinas girls' soccer earned its Section 5 Class A semifinal date with Mercy by winning 2-1 over No. 5 Pittsford Sutherland on Oct. 29, as Heaven Palamitia and Alysha Mercendetti each had first-half goals for the fourth-seeded Little Irish. AQ's final record was 8-5-5.
Elmira Notre Dame boys' soccer had a sparkling record of 13-3-1 this year. The Crusaders reached the Section 4 Class C quarterfinals as the seventh seed, winning 5-0 over No. 10 Newfield in the first round on Oct. 26 by scoring four second-half goals. ND then lost 4-3 in overtime to No. 2 Marathon on Oct. 29.
Bishop Kearney girls' soccer had a nice fall as well, earning the No. 3 seed in Section 5 Class CCC. BK won 1-0 over No. 6 Warsaw on Oct. 28 in quarterfinal play as Maura Sutherland scored and goalie Kelly Struczewski got the shutout. BK then fell 6-2 to No. 2 Gananda in semifinal action on Oct. 31. Kearney had a final record of 11-5-2.
