By Janet Schultz, NYHOL; Photos by Janet Schultz©; FFLOP photos by Ava Kozek
The season has ended and for several players, their high school ice hockey career has ended. They now move into another phase of life, that being college and/or work and maybe hockey, or another sport at the collegiate level.
The Senior Night Ceremonies are both exciting and emotional and this year was no different.
Let’s learn what our ladies will be doing next.
Hamburg/Eden/West Seneca/Holland:
Riley Andzel: This young lady set records this season as a Team Captain. She has been a member of HHEWS for five years and will be graduating from West Seneca High School. She plans to attend the University of Massachusetts at Boston and will continue her hockey career there. Riley will be majoring in Criminal Justice. Her best HHEWS memory is trying to figure out the bigger HHEWS curse: Kayla or Katie! Not sure if she has the answer! Riley compiled 28 goals and 10 assists for 38 points this season. She was third on the year’s scoring stats list.
Katie Mruk played Center for HHEWS for two years and will be graduating from West Seneca West High School. She plans to attend college but is undecided as to where and what her major will be. She is also a soccer player. She too will not forget the “HHEWS curse”. Katie had two goals and five assists this season.
Tori Hart played Wing for one season with the team as Holland Central joined HEWS this year.
She will be playing collegiate hockey just down the Thruway at Utica College. Her major will be Nursing. She remembers taking senior banner photos with one skate on–anyone notice? Tori is also a field hockey and softball player. Tori had two goals and 12 assists this season.
WNYGVIH Champions KENGIPORT will lose a major part of their scoring and defense with the graduation of five players. KENGI added Lockport this season.
First up Goalie Jordan Hofschneider. Jordan played four years for KENGIPORT and will be attending UB and majoring in Business. Perhaps UB can add her to their roster. Her favorite memory is watching the geese video before playoffs. Jordan placed third on the Goalie Season List with a .917 save%. She played 231.63 minutes with a 4-0 record. Jordan is the daughter of Ray and Bree Hofschneider.
Megan Pinzel has spent five years on the KENGIPORT team and plans to major in architecture at a school to be named later. She will take with her memories of sectionals and traveling with the team. Megan played Defense for KGIP. Megan’s parents are Mark and Michelle.
Captain Maddy Flory heads of to Western New England to major in pharmacy and play D3 hockey. She has been with KGIP for five years and her favorite memory is winning sectionals last year. Maddy tied for first place in points with 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points. She is the daughter of Randy and Lara.
If you saw a KGIP game you could not miss Emiliana Cassillo. Emiliana played five years for KGIP and plans to major in criminal justice and play D3 hockey at a school to be determined. She enjoyed the bus rides to the States. Emiliana scored 20 goals and 7 assists this season and was there to set up other players for goals, as team captain. Emiliana is the daughter of Jason and Gina.
Carolyn Bourgeault made a name for her self between the pipes. She has been with the team for six years and will be attending Concordia University in Wisconsin, majoring in biology and playing D3 hockey and lacrosse. Her favorite memory is shutting out Monsignor Martin in the playoffs in her 8th grade year and breaking the shutout streak in the League this year. Carolyn sits in second place on the goalie list with a .958 save%, she played 627.04 minutes and comes away with a 12-2-1 record with 8 shutouts. Carolyn’s parents are Coach Marc and Mom Amy.
For anyone checking records KENGIPORT has the top three goalies in the League this season. Samantha Horne sits in #1 playing 90 minutes with a .973 save%, 2 wins, no losses for ties and one was a shutout.
One more team will see a big loss when they also lose some key goal scorers and goaltenders. Niagara County says good-bye to Mara Beiter. Mara graduates from Starpoint Central and plans to pursue a career in dentistry. She has been with NICO for five years. The Forward had two goals and five assists this season. Her parents are Craig and Jenn.
Number 7 Gabby Puff will be graduating from Niagara-Wheatfield High School and then going off to college to study Business Administration. She has been a member of NICO for three years. Maddy had two goals and two assists this season. She is the daughter of Greg and Tara.
Julianna Blaser graduate from Niagara-Wheatfield High School and plans to study Sports Management at a college to be determined. Julianna was a forward and she is the daughter of Nichole Gonzales and Russ Blaser.
Another graduate looking at a career in Sports Management is Number 19, Paige Spatorico. She has been with NICO for four years and will graduate from North Tonawanda High School. Paige had five goals and 14 assists this season. Her parents are John and Jenn Spatorico.
Defender Arabella Ruest will graduate from Lewiston-Porter Central School and head off to college to study Public Policy. She recorded 3 assists this season. Arabella is the daughter of Eric and the sister of NICO Goaltender Kennedy Ruest.
For three years Mariela Mulready has protected the goal net and now she will be studying Accounting at college. She played 532.15 minutes this season with a .897 save% and 9-3 record. She is the daughter of Patrick and Maritza.
Frontier/Franklinville/LakeShore/Orchard Park is losing three players to graduate with Jordan Joyce, Maura Langdon and Emery Fitzery.
Jordan has been with the team for three years and while undecided about the college she will be attending, her focus will be on Special Education. She remembers doing a chest bump with Maura and then going out and scoring a goal. That was her single goal but she added two assists for a three-point season as a Forward. She is the daughter of Pat and Karen.
Forward Maura Langdon has been a “lifer” on the FFLOP team, a six year member she was a member of the State Championship Team, Section Championship team and two Federation Championships. She will be attending SUNY Cortland to study Physical Education, but will trade her hockey stick for a lacrosse stick at Cortland. Her favorite memory was traveling to Oswego and taking the State Championship as a seventh grader. Maura had 4 goals/5 assists for a 9 point season. She is the daughter of Joe and Heather.
Another “lifer” is Emery Fitzery. She was a member of the State Championship Team, and part of the Section Championship and two Federation Championships. She will be attending Hilbert College studying Criminal Justice. She also will remember the trip to and championship at Oswego. Emery’s parents are Corey and Becky.
Emery and Maura are the last members of the Historic 3 Championship Season, with a Section VI, Federation and State Championship all in the same season.
Lancaster/Iroquois/Depew/Alden recognized four seniors this season.
Allie Marshall joined the team as an 11th grader from Lancaster and completed her second season as a forward. She also played 6 years as a Lancaster field hockey player. A member of the High Honor Roll throughout her high school career, she was nominated for the All WNY Fall Scholar Athlete Team. She is a member of Lancaster High School’s Healthcare Academy, Math Honors Society and English Honors Society. She will be studying Business at a college to be determined. Allie had 2 goals/8 assists this season. Her parent are Keith and Michelle.
Kayla Buczkowski is a forward who played her fifth season for LIDA. She will graduate from Lancaster High School and attend Niagara University in the field of Biology. Kayla has also been a member of the Lancaster Girls Golf Team for the past six years and served as LIDA’s co-captain this year. She was the recipient of the Coach Carriero Sportsmanship Award in her freshman year. Kayla recorded 5 goals/6 assists this season. She is the daughter of Glenn and Danielle Buczkowski.
WNYGVIH’s #1 points-getter is LIDA’s Sydney Radecki. Another player you would see with the puck and the next time it would be headed toward and into the net. Sydney played 6 years for LIDA and served as the Assistant Captain this season. She graduates from Lancaster High School, where she was an Honor Roll student for four years. She plans to go on to Buffalo State College where she will continue her hockey career with the Bengals and study Childhood Education. Sydney was named to All WNY Second Team All Star as a Forward last season. She was also Lancasters Athlete of the Week in her junior and senior years. Sydney recorded 32 goal and 8 assists for 40 points this season. She is the daughter of Dennis and Susan.
Captain Emma Plotnicki has been a member of the LIDA team for the past three years. She was named Art Student of the Year during her junior year and is currently President of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at Lancaster High School. She plans to attend UB next year in their Nursing Program. Emma As a Defender she had two assists this season. She is the daughter of Lou and Ursula.
Clarence/Amherst/SweetHome will lose four players to graduation including:
Jenna Ellis from Amherst High School. This was Jenna’s first year on CASH, and her FIRST year of ice hockey. She loved learning the sport and meeting her teammates. She plans to study Physical Therapy after high school. She saw action in just two games but was part of the team all season.
Another first year player, Elaina Lorenz, also was just introduced to the game this season. Elaina is from Clarence High School and will go on to college to study Sports Management.
Veteran Sydney Spear joined CASH four years ago and served as Captain this season. She plans to study Math and Science after graduating from Clarence High School. Sydney kept CASH on the scoreboard with 8 goals and 4 assists this season.
Captain Isabella Zivis played five years for CASH and will graduate from Clarence High School. She plans to attend UB this Fall. Her favorite memory is playing in her first game as an 8th grader. Isabella had 4 goals/4 assists this season as a Forward.
Monsignor Martin loses a goaltender in Alena Desiderio. She has played for MMAA for four years and is also on the Nardin Cross-Country Team. She plans to enroll in biology and pre-med in college. Her proudest moment was her sophomore year when they took the Championship and her favorite memory are warm-ups because it was always different and fun. Alena played 304.62 minutes with a 1-5-1 record and one shutout. She had a .814 save%.
Another MMAA favorite Isabella Fedele will head off to study biology. She has been with MMAA for four years and also plays lacrosse at Mount Mercy Academy. The Forward had 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points this season.
Erin Prendergast graduates from Nardin Academy, where she also plays softball. She plans to major in riminal Justice in college. She served as an assistant captain and created many friendships, which are her favorite memories; along with winning the Federation Cup in her sophomore year with her winning goal. Erin had 6 points this season with 3G/3A. She has played four years for MMAA.
Trinity Kehoe played 3 years for MMAA and played travel hockey. She is also a softball player and a four-year member of Mount Mercy’s softball team and the varsity cheerleading team. She will be studying nursing at Lebanon Valley College will she will also be playing D3 ice hockey as a member of the Flying Dutchmen. Her favorite memory is winning the Federation championship in both her freshman and junior years. Trinity had two goals and one assist this season. She is the daughter of Tim and Tracy.
Courtney Bonner has played for MMAA since her freshman year at Sacred Heart. She is also a member of Student Council and plans to major in biochemistry on a pre-med track. She is proud to have served as Captain this season and has become close friends with her teammates. Courtney played Forward and 2 goals and 3 assists this season.
Number 8, Paige McGorry, played her first and last season for MMAA this year. She also plays varsity soccer for Sacred Heart. Her career path will be in Forensic Science. Her favorite memory is her first time on the ice with her teammates and everyone cheering. Her parents are Mike and Pam.
Williamsville celebrated three seniors this year with Alexandra Hennessy, Molly Martin and Victoria Burget.
Alexandra graduates from Williamsville North and plans to major in Business. She played Center for three years on Williamsville and her favorite memory was winning the Section VI Title in 2020. She scored 5 goals and 4 assists this season as a Forward. She is the daughter of Nicole Hennessy.
Molly could be found up and down the ice, with puck on stick and then into the net. The Williamsville North High School graduate plans to major in Childhood Education. Her favorite memory was the trip to the States in Lake Placid (ours too). Molly put up 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points this season. Her parents are Kevin and Maureen Martin.
Our last WNYGVIH graduate is Victoria who will graduate from Williamsville South in June. The Forward has been with Williamsville for five years and, she too, will always remember the trip to Lake Placid. She recorded 3 goals and 5 assists this season. Victoria will be playing LaCrosse for SUNY Fredonia while studying Exercise Science. She is the daughter of Drew and Theresa.
St. Mary’s of Lancaster had two seniors on the roster this season. Both Forwards with Elle Yuhas and Laura Haefner.
These amazing players will pass the torch on to their teammates to carry on not only winning records, but friendships and fun that seem a major part of the WNYGVIH Federation.
Family Album:
