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Ice Devils Fall to Spencerport 4-1, ND ties Brighton

By Scott Grefrath

Photo: The defensive play of Blake Polito was the bright spot for Batavia as he helped out goaltender Brandon Corcoran by diving into the net and swatting away a goal with his hand in the first period.

The Ice Devils played well on Saturday but were outmuscled by the aggressive, physical style of play by the Spencerport Rangers (3-1) at the Faletti Ice Arena.

Spencerport lit the lamp first and then Josh Marr netted what would be Batavia’s only score of the day at 6:51 in the first period. Spencerport would get two more goals in the first period and their 4th and final goal in the second period. Both teams were scoreless in the 3rd period which showcased some nice defensive play from both teams and from the goaltenders, Brandon Corcoran (13 saves) and Tyler Fess (20 saves). Spencerport got two goals from Matt Corey and two assists from Scott Doud. Aiden Connolly and Anthony DePetres also scored for the Rangers.

Batavia falls to 1-3-1 and gets ready to host their Annual holiday tournament, The David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament, this weekend at the Faletti Ice Arena. The opening game at 5:00 on Friday features Churchville Chili and Sweet Home with Batavia taking on Frontier at 7:00 pm.The tourney concludes on Saturday with the consolation game at 1:00 and the championship at 3:00.

Notre Dame: 4  / Brighton:4 Notre Dame rallied from a two goal deficit on the road to tie Brighton/ER/HFL 4-4. This appears to have been a showcase between two of the best goaltenders in the area. Notre Dame’s Thomas Dehr made 29 saves while his counterpart, Bracket Bourne also made 29 saves for Brighton/ER/HFL. Notre Dame (2-0-2) travels to Geneva (1-5) Tuesday night and then to Wilson Ice Arena to face-off with winless Geneseo/Livonia on Saturday at 6:30 pm.

Ice Devils rally from late two goal deficit to tie Irondequoit 2-2

By Timothy Walton

"Everyone picked up their intensity knowing the game was on the line" said Ice Devils senior captain Tim Finnell as Batavia who found themselves down 2-0 at the start of the third period and rallied to tie the game 2-2.

"We really came together in the third period and we were able to build a lot of momentum" he added.

Nate Palmer and Junior Josh Marr set up Blake Polito for a shot that put Bataiva on the board and within one goal early in the third period.

Sophomore Tommy Grammatico scored his first high school goal with under three minutes left in the game to even the score for the Ice Devils. Trevor Powers was credited with the assist.

"After tying it up we did everything we could to win it, but unfortunately we couldn't pull this one out" said Finnell. "It was a great team effort".

Nick Papas scored five seconds into the seconds into the second period and Kevin Moses added the other goal for Irondequoit (1-0-1).

Adam Kurek made 26 saves for Batavia (0-1-1).

Notre Dame skates by Kenmore 5-2 in home opener at Falleti Ice Arena

By Timothy Walton

Notre Dame goaltender Tom Dehr makes a save as defensment  Luke Calla battles with a Kenmore forward. Below: ND's Josh Halle lays a hit on Kenmore's Tommy Ryan.- Photos by Bare Antalos for TheBatavian

"We're going to be good this year" said Notre Dame head coach Marc Staley.

The player's supported his statement in the first game as Notre Dame lead 5-0 at one point and easily defeated the visiting Kenmore Devils from Section 6 by a final score of 5-2.

Senior Dylan Versage recorded Notre Dame's first goal of the season off a pass from Zac Blew and Josh Johnston. Just a few minutes later Jack Nenni added their second goal off a nicely set up play by Tyler Kessler and Beau Richter.

Kenmore's top offensive line of Billy Moore, Rob Seiler and Mike Coyen responded with scoring chances but Notre Dame's goaltender Tom Dehr denied them the chance to capitalize.

Blew and Versage then helped put the team up by three as they set up Johnston for his first goal of the season.

The scoring didn't stop their as Luke Calla recorded the fourth score for the Irish off a deflection from Brennan Brown. Nenni then recorded his second goal of the night to cap off the scoring for the Irish. Defensemen Brett Perfitt and Richter were credited with the assists on the play.

Kenmore's top line finally was able to beat Dehr in the third period but it was too little too late. Coyne and Moore each had a goal and assist while Seiler added two assists.

The Irish (1-0) are scheduled to host Geneseo/ Livonia next Tuesday at the Falleti Ice Arena.

Churchville defeats Ice Devils in season opener

By Timothy Walton

Batavia opened their 2010-2011 season by facing off against the Churchville Saints at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the Section V Hockey Showcase. After two defensive lapses and two breakaway goals, Batavia found themselves down 3-0 early in the game, but wouldn't back off. Tim Finnell scored the Devils first goal of the season, as he deflected a shot by Josh Marr to put Batavia within two. Marr then rallied to close the lead to 3-2 as he snuck a puck under the pads of Churchville goaltender Dylan Niewiemski.

After the 2nd period intermission, the Devils came out down just one goal, but collapsed as Churchville added four more goals. Josh Marr scored his second goal in the third to end the score at 7-3.

Shawn Easton scored three goals for Churchville, while Tyler MacMillian added a pair and an assist. Anthony Bertolani also added a goal and assist for the Saints.

 Adam Kurek made the start for Batavia and recorded 15 saves. Niewiemski had 20 saves for Churchville (1-0). Batavia falls to 0-1 and will travel to face Aquinas on Wednesday.

Memorial Tournament honors former hockey players, Kota and Reis

By Timothy Walton

The tournament started off just like every tournament does; with a face off, but the first face off came with a different type of emotion than usual. It was emotions as a result of honoring two former hockey players of the Genesee Amatuer Hockey Association that had their lives ended at young ages. GAHA hosted the Tim Reis/ Matt Kota (TRMK) Memorial Hockey Tournament to remember these players and they started things off with a ceremonial puck drop in their honor.

The center of the ice was filled with people that were close to the two former players. Lining up for Matt Kota were his parents, Jason and Nancy and his siblings, Sean, Tyler and Sara. Matthew passed during September 2008 at the age of 17 from complications brain surgery related to a large AVM (arterio-venous Brain malformation, which is a condition that happens to only 0.01% of the population. Long time friend and former coach, Tom Cervone led the line for Tim Reis that included former teamates that he had played with in the past. Tim had his life taken in a house fire in Byron, along with his mother and two sisters in May 2008. Reis was killed while trying to help his family escape.

While they lined up, in his honor, GAHA president Gerry Wolcott read a passage to remember the two young men.

For Tim he read "Through the dedication of individuals in the organization, Tim was able to play a game he truly enjoyed. Tim was a giver when you got to know him and nowhere was that more evident than on the ice. He always tried his best for his team and when losses came he just accepted them and tried harder. Even in Tim’s last moments, he was giving he was trying to help his Mom and sisters escape the fire that ultimately claimed them all. Every time a player puts on a Ramparts jersey we remember how Tim showed us what being a team player was all about , his spirit is still with us and his teammates every time they take the ice."

He continued for Matthew and stated "Matt was always helping his team anyway he could and even with all his other interest like cross country and advanced courses in school he even took the time to help with his sister and brother’s teams any way he could. On the night before he was to leave for surgery he spent it working with his youth group in their outreach ministries to the needy. After God decided he needed Matt in heaven matt even donated what he no longer would need from his physical body so that at least 7 other families could have a better life or life at all. Matt’s spirit shine brightly with us still and he taught us what a difference one person can make if they cared about others first."

After a moment of silence from the arena, he closed in asking that we all "enjoy life like they did".

 

Falleti Ice Arena hosting NYS hockey championships

By Timothy Walton

This weekend is a weekend full of state championships in New York and the Batavia High School Blue Devils are not the only team that will have the chance to compete for a state title. Genesee Amatuer Hockey Associaton (GAHA) will be host to the 16-U New York State Championships for USA hockey will be held at the Falleti Ice Arena in an eight team tournament to decide who is the best of the best this season. Teams have traveled from all over including Alex Bay, Louisville, Saranac Lake, Bear Mountain and Center State. These teams all finished within the top 2 seeds of the divisions that they played in throughout the season, with Louisville being a favorite to take the title. "There are a lot of good teams coming here this weekend and it's gonna be some good hockey" said tournament director Tom Aldinger. "Anything can happen in a tournament like this".

Since Batavia was awarded the bid to host the tournament, the 16-U Ramparts team, who did not qualify for states this season based on their record, will receive a free entry into the tournament and a chance to prove that they are the best in the state. Two other Western New York  teams, Jamestown and Niagara will also be competing in the tournament.

Batavia is set to play thier first game today (Friday) at 1:00pm against Saranac Lake. The rest of their schedule includes playing Jamestown tomorrow morning at 8:00am and Bear Mountain tomorrow at 4:00pm.

The tournament has games from 9am-9pm today and 8am-8pm tomorrow. Sunday is set for the semi final games at 11am and 1pm with the NYS championship game set for 5pm Sunday night. Admission to the games is only $5 per game or you can get a weekend pass to all the games for only $10. TF Brown's is a partial sponsor of the tournament.

Batavia Ramparts Squirt B Win Division Championship

By Howard B. Owens

Submited by Robert Hunt:

Batavia Ramparts Squirt B finished their regular season undefeated and went on to win the Division Championship Sunday February 28th over the Rochester Youth Hockey Hawks.

Victor ends Ice Devils season

By Timothy Walton

It was a battle of the Devils on Wednesday night at the Tuttle Ice Arena at SUNY Brockport, where Victor came up victorious 3-0 and earned a trip to the Section V Class B high school hockey finals.

Victor's Zeb Clarke recorded 20 saves to earn the shutout. Adam Kurek made 22 saves for Batavia.

6th seeded Batavia, who finished the season at 10-10-1, had lost twice to 2nd seeded Victor (14-4-2-1) in league play this season.

Batavia ended the season and will lose three seniors to graduation, Will Mulcahy, Corey Kocent and Rob Henning.

Victor will play the 1st seeded Webster Thomas in the finals on Sunday at the Tuttle Ice Arena. Thomas who is currently ranked #1 in the state, has not allowed a goal in the first two games of sectionals as they defeteaded Geneva/Waterloo 9-0 and Spencerport 5-0.

 

PW-A Ramparts take tourney title

By Timothy Walton

The PW-A Batavia Ramparts hockey team recently won the Batavia Winter Classic Tournament at the Falleti Ice Arena. The Ramparts were guaranteed to play 3 games in the tournament and were able to advance to the championship game by getting the top seed in the round robin play.

They defeated Monroe County 1-0, the Rochester Sabres 6-5 and the Buffalo Hornets 5-0. They were victorious in the championship game 6-4 against the Rochester Sabres.

Tyler Andrews had 2 hat-tricks in the tournament and goaltender Connor Hamilton recorded 2 shutouts.

Hamilton, Andrews and Aaron Feary received player of the game honors throughout the tournament for Batavia.

Irish skate by Geneva 4-2

By Timothy Walton

The Fighting Irish (11-3) came out with a plan to do what they have been doing best all season; win, and that's just what they did as they defeated Geneva 4-2.

Coming off a loss last game against Victor, the Irish wanted to get right back on track and Jason Harasimowicz lead the offense  early by putting them on the scoreboard just 1:38 into the game on a one timer off a pass from Ivan Madafferi and Phil Vigneri. Madaferri followed up on his own rebound to score the second goal. Harasimowicz was credited with the assist.

The Irish kept the pressure coming throughout the period and were able to force Geneva's Alex Fitzgerald to take a hooking penalty. Tyler Kessler and Kyle Gannon took advantage of the powerplay and set up Jack Nenni for their third goal with 4:13 remaining in the period.

The third period scoring didn't stop there as Sean Kota and Josh Halle set up Phil Vigneri to cap of the scoring for the Irish, all in the first period.

Geneva came out strong in the second period but only managed to get one goal on the board. Eirik Velta scored off an assist from Emil Siedberg for the Panthers' first goal.

The Panthers had a plan to engineer a comeback as they came out hard in the third and Emil Siedberg posted an early goal to close the gap to 4-2. Notre Dame goaltender Tom Dehr had planned to keep the win secure and he did just that as he finished the game by stopping 17 shots on the day. Zach Koczent made 28 saves for the Panthers (3-8-1).

Ramparts teams take second

By Timothy Walton

It was a day of hard fought efforts for two Ramparts teams that got a shot at the championship game of the Batavia New Year's Eve Classic Tournament that was hosted at the Falleti Ice Arena.

ROCHESTER: 5  / BATAVIA: 4-----The Bantam travel team started out the day of championships facing off against the Rochester Youth Americans. Looking for revenge as the Amerks had defeated them just a day earlier, the Ramparts took the early lead online to find themselves in a in a scoring battle, being answered back right after they scored all their goals.

 Parker Brinkworth was one of the Ramparts that had a big day. He started off the scoring with an early goal off of a set up from Mason Versage. He then followed up and assisted on goals by Zack Laird and Evan Eckerson. Brandon Holley scored Batavia's last goal off of an assist by Nate Palmer and Sean Olin. Joe Ryan ended the game with an assist as well.

ROCHESTER: 1  / BATAVIA: 0----- The PeeWee travel team came out with a long fought effort against the Rochester Grizzlies. Ramparts goalie Matthew Anauo stopped 16 shots and looked like he was going to put the game into overtime as he stopped all the shots he faced up until 1:00 left in the game. The Grizzlies beat a defender on the blue line and fired a shot by Anauo to give the Grizzlies the last minute goal and the 1-0 victory. The Ramparts had 6 shots on goal.

Two Ramparts teams in the finals

By Timothy Walton

Photo: Batavia goalie Jimmy Johnston makes a save against a Rochester forward

This year has started off on a good note for two of the Batavia Ramparts teams! They hosted the GAHA New Year's Eve Classic Tournament this weekend and both the Pee Wee Travel (11-12 year olds) and the Bantam III Travel teams both are headed to the championship game! 

The Bantam team will take on the Rochester Youth Americans at 11:30am tomorrow. They lost tonight to Rochester 4-2 in a closely fought game.

The Pee Wee team will face the Rochester Youth Grizzlies at 2:40pm tomorrow.

Both events are free to attend and are at the Falleti Ice Arena, which will have public skate in between the two games.

(Photos courtesy of Scott Grefrath)

Irish shut out by Frontier

By Timothy Walton

The Fighting Irish had their eyes set on claiming the championship win in the Ice Devils' David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament, but the Frontier Falcons had other plans, as they shutout Notre Dame 2-0.

The Irish came out flying and dominated most of the game by outshooting the Falcons 33-13. 

Falcon's senior forward Matt VanWagner scored the Falcon's first goal on the powerplay with about five minutes into the game. Matt Anticoli and Mike Dombrowski were credited with the assist. 

After many scoring chances for the Irish, they couldn't capitalize and the score remained 1-0 for the majority of the game. With 1:30 remaining in the game, Notre Dame pulled goalie Tom Dehr to add an extra skater onto the ice. With just 11 seconds remaining in the game, Falcon's forward  Josh Baker gave his team the insurance goal on the empty net to seal the tournament victory. 

Notre Dame is now 5-2.

ND tops BHS in cross-town rivalry

By Timothy Walton

Photo: Batavia's Josh Marr (9), battles with ND's Beau Richter

It was a packed house for the Batavia Ice Devil's David M. McCarthy Memorial tournament at the Falleti Ice Arena Friday night, as Notre Dame came up victorious in one of the biggest cross-town games of the year.

The first period was full of hard hits and scoring chances for Batavia as they outshot Notre Dame 12-4, but the score remained as it started with neither team being able to capitalize on any chances. The second period was Notre Dame leading the shot board 8-7 and it looked as though the second period score would remain the same until Notre Dame was able to put the first score on the board. Forward Josh Johnson set up linemate Jack Nenni as he ripped the puck through the five-hole of Batavia goalie Adam Kurek with 1:50 remaining in the second period.

Notre Dame back out in the third period the same way they ended the second, with a goal, as Nenni and Tyler Kessler set up Brett Perfitt to give Notre Dame the 2-0 lead.

Batavia was not going to let down easy as forward Conor Holvey scored his second goal of the season off a Corey Kocent pass to put Batavia within a goal of ND with just over 8 minutes reamaining in the game but that would remain their only goal. "We came in knowing that one of the factors to beating Notre Dame is we had to beat their goalie (Tom Dehr)," says Holvey. He's a great goalie and contributes positively to his team every game.

Former Batavia forward, Dylan Versage gave Notre Dame the insurance goal with just over two minutes remaining. "It feels good to score against my old team. I am good friends with some of them and we have played together our whole careers so it was really fun," Versage says.

With about a minute left in the game, Batavia pulled their goalie in hopes to capitalize on the score board. Notre Dame forward Jason Harasimowicz had other plans as he scored from his own zone on a dump shot to secure the victory by the final score of 4-1.

"We came into this game the same as we always do and we look at this just like any other win," Versage says. "It definitely makes it more interesting being against our friends and rival but its still just another game and we have to play how we always do."

Notre Dame (5-1) will play against Fronteir in the Championship game tomorrow at 3:30pm at the Falleti Ice Arena, while Batavia (2-3) will play in the consolation game at 1pm against Oswego.

Fronteir (Section 6) beat Oswego (Section 3) to advance to the championship game by a score of 10-2.

Photo: ND's Tom Dehr, stops a shot from Batavia's Will Mulcahy

 (Photos courtesy of Scott Grefrath)

Ice Devils fall in final period

By Timothy Walton

The Ice Devils came out strong on Monday night at the Falletti Ice Arena in Batavia, for a Monroe County High School Hockey matchup, but couldn't hold on, as Brighton/East/HFL came up victorious. Brighton forward Andrew Schwingel scored the game winner late in the game to spoil Batavia's early 2-0 lead and to give Brighton their first victory of the season.

After an extended warm up due to referees failing to initailly show, Batavia came out flying and lit the lamp early. Batavia freshman forward Conor Holvey set up senior Will Mulcahy for his third goal of the season. Keeping the pressure on throughout the period resulted in many scoring opportunities for the Ice Devils, and eventually lead to Holvey scoring his first career high school goal. Senior Rob Henning was credited with the assist.

After finding themselves behind 2-0 in the third period, Brighton came back with a fight as forward James Spencer put Brighton on the board. The pressure didn't stop there as Brighton forward Jack Beers, tied the game at 2-2, only to be followed by Schwingel's game winner, giving Brighton the 3-2 victory off a Kevin Holly pass. Holly finished with two assists for the Barons (1-4-0-1). Batavia falls to 2-2 and faces cross-town rival Notre Dame High School Friday at 5pm at the Falletti Ice Arena. The matchup is the first game of Batavia's annual David M. McCarthy Memorial Tournament.

(Photos courtesy of Scott Grefrath)

Spencerport hockey tops Batavia

By Brian Hillabush

The Batavia hockey team's run through the Section 5 Class B sectionals has come to an end.

Spencerport topped the Blue Devils 5-2 at the ESL Centre Saturday and Batavia's season comes to an end.

Mike Leone scored his first goal of the season for Spencerport and it proved to be the game winner at 1:57 of the second period.

Rocky Grattaudaria, Steve Doud and Kevin Keacock also had goals with Steve Hogan dishing out three helpers.

Pat Finnell and Will Mulcahy had the Batavia (11-10-2) goals, with Adam Kurek stopping 20 shots.

Tyler Lariviere had 26 saves for Spencerport (14-7-2). 

Batavia hockey overcomes Geneseo/Livonia and officials

By Brian Hillabush

 The Batavia hockey team had a speed advantage over Geneseo/Livonia, but didn't get much of a chance to use it and because of that had a close game in the opening round of sectionals, which they won 3-2 at Faletti Ice Arena Wednesday.

The fifth-seeded Blue Devils couldn't get the offense going against the 12th seed because officials called a total of 15 penalties in the game.

"I think we tend to play at the other team's level," Batavia coach Paul Pedersen said. "I told the team that anytime you are in sectionals, any team can beat any other team. We have been coming out flat and we need to fix that."

Batavia had a power play early in the first period, but couldn't capitalize and Geneseo/Livonia didn't wait long before starting the scoring. Max Hartnett scored off assists by Jeff Webster and Xavier Copeland at the midpoint of the frame.

It took five minutes, but the Blue Devils managed to tie the game with 2 1/2 minutes left in the opening period when Erik Pokornowski scored an unassisted goal.

The Lakers didn't wait long to get the lead back, scoring just 40 seconds later when Webster scored off passes by Copeland and Mike Donals.

"When we fell behind 2-1, we knew we had to work hard," Pokornowski said. "We had to keep working our system and just work hard and we would be okay."

Batavia failed to convert on three more power play chances before finally taking advantage of one. Geneseo/Livonia's Rick Hilimire was whistled for a cross-check and a game misconduct, meaning the Blue Devils had a power play for 1:30 and Hilimire had to sit for 10 minutes. Pat Finnell scored seconds later to tie the game off an assist by Pokornowski.

All momentum had shifted and Blake Polito scored 1:30 later to give Batavia an edge they wouldn't give up. It was his first varsity goal.

Geneseo/Livonia had some quality chances in the closing minutes, but a pass to the point bounced over a players puck with seconds left, killing any chance of a comeback.

Batavia (14-8) had a 29-16 shots on goal advantage as Austin Thiele made 26 saves for G/L (3-19-2) and Adam Kurek had 14 stops for Batavia.

The Blue Devils will play No. 4 Spencerport at the ESL Centre at Noon on Saturday.

"They beat us pretty good the first time," Pokornowski said. "Our goal is to win sectionals and we are going to have to play our best to beat them."

Several area teams recognized by D&C

By Brian Hillabush

 Several area schools are represented in this week's Democrat & Chronicle polls.

Batavia, Attica and Holley are all ranked in the small school wrestling poll as we head into this weekend's sectional tournament.

Batavia is the fifth ranked school, with Attica coming in at No. 6 and Holley at No. 8.

Elba has the seventh ranked girls basketball team in the small school category, with Alexander and Notre Dame also receiving votes.

Batavia's boys basketball team is ranked No. 9 in the large school rankings while Oakfield-Alabama is No. 8 in the small school poll.

Batavia's hockey team also received votes, but did not crack the top 10.

Notre Dame hockey beats Batavia for first time in a decade

By Brian Hillabush

Scoring early and slowing down the game.

That was the plan for Marc Staley and the Notre Dame hockey team, which was facing an experienced Batavia squad with a lot more wins Thursday night at Faletti Ice Arena. 

The Fighting Irish scored twice in the first period and then shut down Batavia's powerful scoring line en route to a 3-1 victory. It was the first time Notre Dame has beaten its cross-town rival in a decade.

"We've been the underdog every time we've played Batavia High for the last 10 years," said ND coach Marc Staley. "We played that role. But the kid do understand that we are improving and we showed that tonight."

Freshman Jack Nenni had his second career two goal game, opening the scoring mid-way through the first period. It was his fourth goal of the season.

"We are two different teams," Staley said. "When we play from the lead, we are tough to play against. When we score first we are 7-2-1. We knew that if we scored first it would be big, we can play our game plan as we have it laid out. If we fall behind we have to make adjustments."

Nenni added an empty-net goal in the third period after Batavia had scored to make the game interesting. His first time scoring two goals in a game came as an eighth grader last season.

"He has been struggling and we told him to just come out firing," Staley said. "I was thrilled that he had a big game on a big night."

Batavia's other first period goal came from Jason Harasimowicz, who also had an assist.

Ivan Madaferri had two assists for the Fighting Irish.

The defensive game plan was to shut down Batavia's potent first line of Erik Pokornowski, Pat Finnell and and Cory Kocent, and Notre Dame did just that. All three are in the top 10 scoring in Section 5, but didn't manage a goal Thursday night.

Will Mulcahy had Batavia's goal.

"All four of our defensemen played great," Staley said. "We worked on clearing the puck. It sounds simple, but if we had to take some icing calls, we were fine. We wanted to slow the game down. They have speed so we backed them all into the middle and we knew Thomas (Dehr) would stop all the shots from the outside."

Dehr stopped 17 shots for the Fighting Irish, who improve to 8-8-2.

Notre Dame had not defeated Batavia (13-8) in 10 years, but took the Blue Devils to overtime twice last season.

Section 2 could fight NYSPHSAA cuts in number of games

By Brian Hillabush

 This passage from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association bylaws has opened up a chance for each Section to determine if they continue playing a full schedule and avoid the recent cuts made.

 "The maximum number of contests which may be established for interscholastic sports during a regular schedule shall be determined in the sections ... The maximum number of contests established for each sport during the regular schedule is subject to review by the state athletic associations and may be altered where it is found that disparities in the number of games contribute to unequal competition between teams in different sections."

Section 2 might fight the decision made by the NYSPHSAA because of this passage.

Jackie Friedman of Poststar.com writes that in the most recent meeting by the Section 2 athletic council, a mothing was passed to give member schools a chance to vote to overturn the state's ruling. 

If the majority of schools vote to overturn the state's decision, Section 2 will try to get an endorsement from the NYSPHSAA to stop the rule in that area. The votes will be collected by March 16 and a decision will be announced on April 1 at the athletic council meeting.

Section 2 executive director Doug Kenyon is quotes as saying that athletic directors and schools "should have control over their destiny."

Kenyon believe that even if the vote passes, the state may still not approve the decision because it would give Section 2 an advantage over the other Sections in state competition because the teams will have played more games.

There has been harsh criticism of the state's ruling to cut the number of games from people in every Section, so this could be a way to reverse the cuts. It would be interesting if other Sections - including Section 5 - were to try this as well.

Maybe a full schedule could return, with Section 2 leading the way.

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