WNYGVIH... A Pictorial History by Photographer/Author Janet Schultz
This book was put together to commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of the Western New York Girls Varsity Ice Hockey League. The League was a dream that became a reality and worked hard to get to this point. The one thing that remains a constant in this League is that on any given day, in any given year, any team can take the Championship. The seasons have been unpredictable and, at times, surprising. It has been an amazing time for me, to be able to meet young women who have such a passion for the sport of ice hockey. They not only play in this league but most of them also play in their house or travel leagues. They play seven nights a week, travel all over for tournaments and games. I have often referred to them as “my girls.” It has also been a privilege to be a part of the organizing group and then to write and capture the moments for 10 years. The photos in this book were chosen for no particular reason. I just grabbed some shots that I thought were interesting and fun. I have thousands of photos. Also I would like to thank my Grandson, Damian Adams for some of the photographs. The photos aren’t identified because in many instances the numbers/names aren’t visible; plus at times there were roster changes. My hope is that you enjoy this book. My regret is that I am unable to actually have print copies made. But in this day and age, it’s nice that I can offer it up on our Website: www.nyhockeyonline.com and make it available for you to download in a digital format and then print at home. I suggest using photo paper so the photos come out crisper. So here’s the first ten years...looking forward to the next! Janet Schultz Photographer/Writer NY Hockey OnLine Magazine
Taking a Dream to Reality 2007-2009 In 2006 Rick Hopkins was approached by Mary Grainger of Ithaca Girls Ice Hockey on the idea of forming a Girls Varsity Ice Hockey League in Western New York. There were teams in the North and Central regions but the idea of a State-wide league, similar to the boys, was wanted. In June of that year Hopkins took a group of Williamsville girls to a school board meeting to request funding for a team. After review a long review Williamsville opted out because there were not enough competing schools near-by to make it feasible. That would not hold Hopkins and his supporters up. Girls 4 Varsity Ice Hockey was founded and included parents, coaches and other who supported the idea. They began with Ice Hockey Showcases, an exhibit at the WNY Hockey Expo, surveys in schools and Unity Skates to show the community there was a need for a League. The players also went to each of their school boards and presented their case. In addition a Girls Ice Hockey Development Committee made up of local athletic directors worked from 2008 to 2009 on the implication study for a league by the 2010-11 season. Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Day was held September 13, 2009 with information disseminated at the schools by the potential players. Erie County Legislator Michele Ianello issued a proclamation supporting the effort.
Members of the Girls 4 Varsity Ice Hockey Committee Rick Hopkins, Jeanette Yoder, Helen Drew-Meosky, Ann Marie Gajewski, Bill Pavone, Liz DiTonto, Sue Deci, Mike Paulter, Isabel Posner, Chris Roberts, J. Buffamato, Kimberly Ingram, Ed Kirchberger, Peter Tonsoline, Mary Kather, some pictured above. T here were others including Randy and Janet Schultz.
In the Fall of 2009 seven schools held tryouts. Williamsville, SweetHome, Kenmore, Frontier, Lancaster, West Seneca and a group of catholic schools in the Monsignor Martin Schools Athletic Association began the move to icing teams. Girls 4 Varsity Ice Hockey hosted a Skate-A-Thon on January 21, 2010 raising $10,000 for the Ryan Miller Steadfast Foundation. The teams found funding from their schools and also from fundraisers such as the Pancake Breakfast hosted by Lancaster in August, 2010. By fall of 2010 those schools, along with Orchard Park and Amherst were ready to kick-off the first-ever WNY Girls Varsity Ice Hockey season.
Showcase games were held September 2009 through January 2010.
In 2008 Williamsville schools formed North abnd East teams and played a showcase came. Showcase Games held in January 2010 featured West Seneca, Williamsville (North, South, East), Monsignor Martin, Amherst/Sweethome, Lancaster and Kenmore; along with special guest Hilton. A major supporter off Girls 4 Varsity Ice Hockey was Erie County Legislator Michele M. Iannello, pictured above with Amherst Youth Hockey players.
Puck Drop at January 21, 2010 Showcase Game with Chris DeMarco, Nancy Riccio and William Rusin.
High Sticks in Victory as the WNY Girls Ice Hockey League is approved
Showcase Games in 2009-2010 Monsignor Martin and Amherst/SweetHome held clinics for girls interested in ice hockey.
The First Season 2010-2011 The Western New York Girls Varsity Ice Hockey League, part of the Section VI Federation, opened with Williamsville, Kenmore, Amherst/Sweethome, Lancaster, Monsignor Martin, West Seneca and Frontier/Orchard Park; 9 schools/7 teams. The puck dropped February 25, 2011 on the first-ever WNY Girls Varsity Ice Hockey game. Williamsville played Monsignor Martin to a 5-1 win for Monsignor Martin on the Amherst #2 rink at the then Pepsi Center. The season went on with the Inaugural Playoff game pitting Frontier/Orchard Park against Monsignor Martin. OP’s Bernadette O’Connell scores the winning goal with 1:50 left in the third. OP’s Mikaela DiTonto stopped shots on 31 for the win. Olivia Gajewski scored the first goal in the tournament for Monsignor Martin. Orchard Park moves on to play Williamsville in the finals and Williamsville takes the title in a 6-0 win over Frontier/Orchard Park. The two schools face-off again in the Section VI Championship, and this time Frontier/Orchard Park tops Williamsville. Due to Monsignor Martin being a private school, they are ineligible for the Section VI playoffs; thus two championship series in this league. Left: Shauna Clair, Williamsville and Kristen Spulecki, Monsignor Martin take the faceoff from Williamsville Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Rusin.
2010-2011 Federation Champion: Williamsville Section VI Champions: Frontier/Orchard Park Season Standings: Monsignor Martin Williamsville West Seneca Orchard Park/Frontier Kenmore Amherst/SweetHome Lancaster
A little more about Season One:
The Inaugural Coaches included Rick Hopkins, Williamsville; Jeff Orlowski, Kenmore; James Ryn, Amherst/ Sweethome; Chris Malicki, Monsignor Martin; Dave Santoro, Lancaster; Pete Tonsoline, West Seneca; and Jim McCarthy, Frontier/Orchard Park. Tara Barnhardt (MM) had the first goal of the game and the first WNYGVIH hattrick in the Inaugural game played, Julie Duquette had the first assist. First Game Starting Goaltenders: Theresa Moesky for Williamsville; Emily Terranova for Monsignor Martin. Shauna Clair had the only goal for Williamsville in the Inaugural Game. Coaches Jim McCarthy and Lou Forcucci were awarded the Character Educator of WNY Integrity in Action Award in January 2011. KATZ Goalie Karen Rea was hurt in the first period of a game and Casey Adimey went to the net while Missy Mallon went to the lockerroom and came out a goalie for the second and third periods. Both Lancaster and West Seneca skated with short benches. Orchard Park had 5 sets of sisters and there were 2 sets of sisters at West Seneca. Sarah Scolnicki was named Super 7 Athlete of the Week for December 9, 2010.
Monsignor Martin is blessed before first game
The first season, a full schedule, more presentations to school boards to grow the league, a Pancake Breakfast, games in an outdoor arena in East Aurora and an unpredictable season as far as who would take the Titles. (I apologize to Frontier/Orchard Park for not having a championship photo, NYHOL was not able to attend that game.)
Girls Take to Ice at 2010 Bowman Cup The girls were invited to take part in the 2010 Bowman Cup held at the First Niagara Center (now Key Bank). On March 29 Team North and Team South took to the ice under the coaching of Chris Malecki, Tom Ruggiero, Crystal Schunke for the North and Rick Hopkins, Joe Marszalek and Amanda Smock for the South. Players North: Julia Gajewski, Olivia Gajewski, Ashley Malicki, Kristen Spulecki, Taylor Bergmann, Emily Terranova, Ashley Bennett, Caitlyn Donahue, Amanda Gabryszak, Stacy Lobaugh, Maggie Ryan, Tiffany Hoder, Jess Blas, Alli Lattuca, Gianna Girdlestone, Jamie Liskiewiczs, Alyssa Werynski, Allyson Fuller and Nicole Deci. South: Abby Posner, Deanna Sinatra, Helena Ingram, Marissa Caggiano, Shauna Clair, Jamie Cohen, Sarah DiBernardo, Holly Flanigan, Tricia Larkin, Nell Meosky, Alyssa Molnar, Alicia Oswalk, Paige Paulter, Blair Pembleton.
2011-2012, Season 2 The season opened with Williamsville vs West Seneca on December 1. Seven teams in including (listed by final standings) Monsignor Martin, West Seneca, Williamsville, Kenmore, Amherst/SweetHome, Orchard Park/Frontier and Lancaster. Federation Championship saw Monsignor Martin taking the title after a 2-1 victory over West Seneca. In Section VI action it was Kenmore 1-0 over West Seneca for the title Leading the scoring for the season was West Seneca’s Erin Gehen with 30 goals and 19 assists for 49 points and in goal Danielle Trolli for Monsignor Martin had a .930 save percentage and 1.01 gaa. Named to the All Federation Team were Erin Gehen, Abby Posner, Kate Miller, Ashley Malicki, Jamie Cohen and Shauna Claire.
2012 Champs Top: Monsignor Martin Right: Kenmore
2012-2013 Season three opened with the rescheduing of Game 1 due to weather, something this league had to endure several times in ten years. The first game was then Orchard Park/Frontier over Lancaster 13-0 on November 29, 2012. This was also the first year that a Section VI team headed off to the NYS High School Regional Tournament. That team would be Kenmore after they took the Section VI Championship 2-1 in two overtimes against Williamsville. Kenmore would play a strong Beekmantown team and lost 3-2 in the first round. In Federation play Monsignor Martin secures their second championship after beating Williamsville 3-2. Erin Gehen leads the scorers with 37 goals and 20 assists and in goal Courtney Wesolowski shines with a .981 save percentage. Named to the All Fed Team: Erin Gehen, Rachel Lenard, Missy Mallon, Julia Duquette, Maddy Grisco, Lauren Pray.
2013-2014 In 2013-14 the League welcomed Iroquois as they joined Lancaster and Nichols School brought a team in. There were also three new Head Coaches named, Nicola Adimey for KATZ, Linda Mroz, MM and Brian Hillery, West Seneca. Pete Tonsoline became Co-Coach for Lancaster/Iroquois and Tom Iafallo coached the Nichols Team. Several games were played at the East Aurora Rink, which was originally used for the NHL Outdoor Game in Buffalo. The season opened November 19 with Nichols 4-1 over Amherst/Sweethome (who took on the name KATZ last season). West Seneca’s Erin Gehen scored her 100th career point on December 19; the first to do so in the League. The Section VI Championship went to Kenmore for the second consecutive season. They beat Lancaster/Iroquois 2-1 and moved on to the NYS Regional Championship. In Clayton they lost to Potsdam in the semi-finals but Potsdam and Skaneateles played to a 2-2 tie after four overtimes and were declared Co-Champions, a first for the Tournament. Kenmore returned home to face Lancaster?Iroquois again in the Federation Championship. That game went two overtimes before Kenmore pulled out a 2-1 victory. Monsignor Martin’s Kaitlynn Drew-Mead topped the scoring charts with 15 goals and 10 assists and Goalie Lauren Pray (Kenmore) topped the goaltending charts with a .934 save percentage and 1.52 GAA. Named to the All Federation Team were Erin Gehen (West Seneca), Rachel Lenard (MM), Missy Mallon (KATZ), Rachel Grampp (Wm), Maddy Grisko (KATZ) and Lauren Pray (Kenmore) Named to Second Team All Fed were Meghan Fonfara, Sarah Scolnick, Jill Battista, Kaeli Malicki, Megan Ruekauf and Theresa Meosky. Fonfara would later become the first player from the WNYGVIH League to sign with the NWHL Buffalo Beauts.
2014-2015
Hamburg joined with West Seneca bringing a tenth school into the mix, and providing more girls an opportunity to play. The season opened at Lincoln arena on November 25 with Williamsville and Kenmore ending the game in a tie. Hamburg Central joined West Seneca and Nichols departed the League. The Section VI Championship went to Kenmore for the third straight year and send them back to the NYS Regional Tournament. They beat Alexander Bay 2-1 and headed to the Championship where they lost a 3-0 decision to Massena. Returning home they faced Monsignor Martin for the Federation title and lost 1-0 to Monsignor Martin, who takes the championship, after the game was postponed to February 26 due to weather. Kaitlyn Drew-Mead leads the scoring charts for the second year with 12 goals, 6 assists and Lauren Pray is back on top of the Goalies with a .926 gaa. All Fed Team: Olivia Smith (Kenmore), Sarah Scolnick (Wm), Kaitlyn DrewMead (MM), Ana Orzechowski (Kenmore) Megan Ruekauf (Lan/Iro) and Lauren Pray (Kenmore). Named to Second Team were McKenna Rushford, Jordan Roetzer, Tatum Weber, Grace Simmons, Brianna Colucci and Maddy Norton. Coach of the Year was Jim McCarthy of Orchard Park/ Frontier.
2015-2016 Two more high schools joined the league in 2015-16. Clarence joined up with Amherst and Sweethome to now form CASH and Grand Island partnered with Kenmore for KGI. KGI made history by five-peating (if there is such a word) when they defended their Section VI Championship with a 4-2 victory over Orchard Park/Frontier. Off to the NYS Tournament in Albany where they beat Canton in the preliminary round and lost 3-2 to Alexander Bay in the Championship game. The Federation Championship went to Monsignor Martin after a two-week game delay due to weather followed by spring break. Monsignor Martin defeated Williamsville 2-0. Named to the All Federation Team were Brianna Gawronski (MM), Maeve Christ (MM), Grace Simmons (KGI), Kaitlyn Drew-Mead (MM), Julia Mings (CASH) and Olivia Smith (KGI). Victoria Cottrell, Brianna Colucci, Samantha Gaffney, Leah Czerwinski, Emily King and Catharine Radwan were named to the Second Team,. Coach of the Year: Linda Mroz.
2016-2017 The League continued to grow with the addition of Depew High School to the Lancaster/Iroquois team, now known as LID; Eden to the West Seneca/Hamburg team, now HEWS and LakeShore to the Frontier/Orchard Park Team, now FLOP. HEWS and Williamsville opened season play on November 21. The Section VI Championship has a new face in the winner’s circle with FLOP, taking KGI 3-2. FLOP heads off to the NYS Regional Championships and beats Beekmantown 5-1 but loses to Skaneateles 5-1 in the Championship. FLOP returns to the ice for the Federation Championship and beat Williamsville 4-2. Two top scorers grace the Leader Board this season with Julia Mings with 24 goals, 18 assists and Emma Faso with 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points each. All Federation Team for 2016-2017 include Olivia Smith (KGI), Julia Mings (CASH), Leah Czerwinski (Wm), Brooke Becker (FLOP), Ellie Cleary (MM) and Brianna Gawronski (MM). Coach of the year is Bob Klimowicz of FLOP.
FLOP AT STATES
2017-2018
2017-18 opens with a HEWS vs Williamsville on November 20. Once again FLOP manages to defeat Williamsville in the Section VI finals, 3-1, and moves on to the NY State Tournament for the second time. This time they beat Skaneateles 6-3 in the semis and then face Salmon River in the finals. They bring home the Championship with a 4-1 victory. CASH made its first appearance in the Federation Championship after defeating Monsignor Martin 4-3 in overtime in the semis. They now face a returning State Champion, FLOP. FLOP is defending its Federation and Section VI championship and beats CASH. On top of the leader board for this season is Emma Faso with 19 goals and 12 assists and in goal Maggie Spyche with a .923 save percentage and 1.47 gaa. Named to the All Fed team were Kayla Blas (MM), Emma Faso (CASH), Holley Schmelzer (WM), Casey Adimey (CASH), Brooke Becker (FLOP) and Grace Harrington (MM). Second Team: Abigail Blair, Emily Kromer, Jersey Phillips, Sirena Fitzery, Emma O’Neil and Ellie Simmons. Third Team: Izzy Friedman, Amanda Gaffney, Charleigh Rondeau, Ellie Cleary, Elizabeth Sidorski, Jenna Lukomski. Dave Santora, of LID, was named Coach of the Year
FLOP brings home the first-ever WNYGVIH NYS Championship
FLOP Defeats Salmon River 4-1 Comes home to the bus escorted by local EMS agencies!
2018-2019 The League continued to grow with the addition of a team from Niagara County made up of players from Starpoint Central and Niagara-Wheatfield Central. Monsignor Martin and Niagara County open the year on November 26 at Hockey Outlet in Niagara Falls, NiCo’s home ice. Monsignor Martin beats the new team 9-3. Once again FLOP ends up in the playoffs against Williamsville and loses 4-3 in overtime. Williamsville has its first trip to the NYS Championships. WNYGVIH hosts its first State Championship at HarborCenter with the outcome a 6-1 win over Potsdam in the Semis and then a 5-4 win over Skaneateles in the Championship round. WNYGVIH has its second NYS Championship. Emma Roland leads the scoring with 36 goals and 26 assists and Sophie Will and Izzy Battaglia are leading the goaltenders. At the Federation Championship, FLOP hands LID a 4-2 loss and they take the Championship. Named to the All Fed Team: Emma Faso (KGI), Emma Roland (Wm), Jersey Phillips (LID), Brooke Becker (FLOP), Abigail Blair (KGI), Izzy Battaglia (MM). Second Team: Izzy Friedman, Mary Kromer, Natalie O’Brien, Camryn Brownschidle, Elizabeth Sidorski, Sissy Harmen. Third Team: Emily Matthews, Kaitlyn Morris, Jessica Peters, Lilli Adimey, Anna Pitz and Tori Cottrell Gregg Grosskopf, NiCo, in his first year as a WNYGVIH coach, is Coach of the Year. At the end of the season Haseks Heros honored all high school ice hockey athletes for the first time.
2019 NYS Champions Williamsville
WNYGVIH hosts NYS Championships and Williamsville takes the Title at HarborCenter.
Haseks Heroes Honors Ice Hockey Athletes
The Haseks Heroes organization honored high school ice hockey athletes, including the WNYGVIH players. Recognized were: Isabella “Izzy” Battaglia, Goaltender of the Year Abigail “Abby” Blair, Defensive Player of the Year Emma Roland, Offensive Player of the Year
Niagara County Girls, Team of the Year Brooke Becker, Player of the Year Abigail Lillis, Unsung Hero Award Rick Hopkins, Coach of the Year All Fed Team: Emma Faso, Jersey Phillips, Emma Roland, Brooke Becker, Abigail Blair and Izzy Battaglia
2019-2020 In its tenth season the WNYGVIH League grew once again with North Tonawanda and Lewiston-Porter adding players to the Niagara County Team, now known as NiCo. To celebrate the league scheduled the first game on November 11 to be a replay of the first-ever game. Monsignor Martin took on Williamsville at the NorthTowns Center. MM wins 5-1 over Williamsville. Individuals who were instrumental in helping the league to be formed dropped ceremonial pucks at the first home game of each team. The 10th season found Williamsville taking the Federation title after they beat LID 8-1. This season the Fed playoffs were held first so there wasn’t such a gap between both championships. Williamsville beat Kenmore/Grand Island 3-2 after two overtimes. Williamsville headed off to the site of the “Miracle on Ice,” Lake Placid for the NYS Regional Championships. They beat Plattsburgh 7-0 in the semis but lost to Clinton 1-0 in the finals at the Herb Brooks Arena. Named to the All Fed Team were: Jersey Phillips (LID), Emma Roland (Wm), Mary Kromer (FLOP), Brooke Becker (FLOP), Abigail Blair (KGI) and Dylan Gorski (LID). Second Team: Lara Beecher, Morganne Dee, Natalie O’Brien, Lilly Adimey, Mia Boyd, Mia Wendell. Third Team: Allison Greene, Riley Malicki, Jenna Cavalieri, Kayla Persingher, Erin Roland, Sophia Will. Coach of the Year: Kevin Miller Co-Players of the Year: Brooke Becker and Jersey Phillips The WNYGVIH were able to complete their entire season. But with the onset of the CoronaVirus the Haseks Heros Banquet was postponed.
Williamsville at States 2020
WNYGVIH INAUGURAL ALL FED TEAM
The first-ever WNYGVIH Section VI All Federation Team, 2010-2011: Ashley Malicki, Monsignor Martin Erin Gehen, West Seneca Abby Posner, KATZ Shauna Clair, Williamsville Jamie Cohen, Williamsville Kate Miller, Kenmore
2011-2012 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM
Rachel Lenard, Monsignor Martin; Kate Miller, Kenmore; Erin Gehen, West Seneca; Julia Duquette, Monsignor Martin,; Nikki Kirchberger, West Seneca; Lauren Pray, Kenmore
2012-13 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM
Erin Gehen, West Seneca Rachel Lenard, Monsignor Martin Missy Mallon, KATZ Julia Duquette, Monsignor Martin Maddy Grisko, KATZ Lauren Pray, Kenmore
2013-2014 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM
Clockwise from Top Center: Rachel Lenard, Monsignor Martin; Missy Mallon, KATZ; Maddy Grisko, KATZ; Erin Gehen, West Seneca; Rachel Grampp, Williamsville; Lauren Pray, Kenmore
2014-15 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM Megan Ruekauf, LID
Sarah Scolnick, Williamsville
Lauren Pray, Kenmore Olivia Smith, Kenmore
Ana Orzechewski, Kenmore
Kaitlyn Drew-Mead, Monsignor Martin
2015-16 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM AND COACH OF THE YEAR
Brianne Gawronski, Monsignor Martin; Maeve Christ, Monsignor Martin; Grace Simmons, Kenmore/Grand Island; Kaitlyn-Drew Mead, Monsignor Martin; Julia Mings, KATZ; Olivia Smith, Kenmore/Grand Island and Coach of the Year, Linda Mroz, Monsignor Martin.
2016-17 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM
Leah Czerwinski, Williamsville; Brooke Becker, FLOP; Ellie Cleary, Monsignor Martin; Coach of the Year Bob Klimowicz, FLOP; Julie Mings, KATZ; Olivia Smith, Kenmore/Grand Island; Brianne Gawronski, Monsignor Martin
2017-18 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM AND COACH OF THE YEAR Left: Kayla Blas, Monsignor Martin; Below: Grace Harrington, Monsignor Martin
Top: Emma Faso, CASH Below: Holly Schmelzer, Williamsville
Left: Casey Adimey, CASH Above: Brooke Becker, FLOP Center: Coac of the Year David Santoro, LID
2018-19 WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM AND COACH OF THE YEAR Coach Greg Grosskopf, Niagara County; Izzy Battaglia, Monsignor Martin; Emma Faso, CASH; Abby Blair, Kenmore/Grand Island; Jersey Phillips, LID; Emma Roland, Williamsville
2019-2020 TENTH ANNIVERSARY WNYGVIH ALL FED TEAM/COACH OF THE YEAR Coach Kevin Miller, Mary Kromer, FLOP; Jersey Phillips, LID; Emma Roland, Williamsville; Brooke Becker, FLOP; Abby Blair, Kenmore/Grand Island and Dylan Gorski, LID
Rusin Award In 2012-13 WNYGVIH established the Dr. James Rusin Award to honor the dedication and commitment a person or organization has to the League. The first recipient was 2012-13 Bill Pavone. 2013-14 Janet Schultz, NY Hockey Online Magazine 2014-15 Anne Marie Gajewski, Monsignor Martin Manager 2015-16 Matt Miller, Kenmore/Grand Island, League Statistician 2016-17 WNY Athletics represented by Frances Boeck, Frank Wolf, Dave Ricci 2017-18 Michelle Lysinski, LID manager 2018-19 Dan O’Brien, Niagara County Girls 2019-2020 Brett Banker, Kenmore AD
Clockwise Starting top left: Pavone, Schultz, Gajewski with Rick Hopkins, Lysinski, Banker with Matt Miller, O’Brien, Miller and Center is WNY Athletics with Frank Wolf and Dave Ricci (Francis Boeck not photographed)
2015-16 League: Monsignor Martin Section VI: Kenmore Kenmore places Second in NYS Championship
Championships 2010-2020 2010-2011 League: Williamsville Section VI: Orchard Park/Frontier
2016-17 League: Frontier/LakeShore/Orchard Park (FLOP) Section VI: FLOP FLOP takes Second in the NYS Championship
2011-12 League: Monsignor Martin Section VI: Kenmore
2017-18
2012-13 League: Monsignor Martin Section VI: Kenmore 2013-14 League: Kenmore Section VI: Kenmore Kenmore first team to take both Titles in single year. 2014-15 League: Monsignor Martin Section VI: Kenmore
League: FLOP Section VI: FLOP FLOP takes NYS Championship, the first for a WNYGVIH team.
2018-19 League: FLOP Section VI: Williamsville Williamsville wins NYS Championship 2019-2020 League: Williamsville Section VI; Wiliamsville Williamsville takes Second in NYS Championship
All-Time Leading Scorers
Name
Team
Years
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Erin Gehen Julia Mings Emma Faso Brooke Becker Olivia Smith Jersey Phillips Emily King Mary Kromer Emma Roland Rachel Lenard Rachel Ziarnowski Julia Duquette MaKenna Rushford Abigail Blair Lina Mirabella Kaitlyn Drew-Mead Charleigh Rondeau
West Seneca CASH CASH FLOP KGI LID KGI FLOP Will FOP/MM MM MM CASH KGI KGI MM CASH
2010-2014 2011-2017 2015-2019 2015-2020 2011-2017 2016-2020 2010-2016 2016-2020
GP G A Pts
71 81 75 101 109 72 120 84 2015-16, ‘18-’20 58 2010-2014 69 2010-2013 56 2010-2013 56 2010-2016 83 2015-2020 94 2010-2016 118 2013-2017 54 2013-2019 93
112 104 86 78 84 82 56 63 69 47 57 48 47 51 54 62 40
77 51 65 58 52 40 61 52 44 61 50 55 55 43 40 30 51
189 155 151 136 136 122 117 115 113 108 107 103 102 94 94 92 91
Pt/Game 2.66 1.91 2.01 1.35 1.25 1.69 0.98 1.37 1.95 1.57 1.91 1.84 1.23 1.00 0.80 1.70 0.99
Where Are They Now?
The idea to form high school girls varsity ice hockey teams is to give the players another place to play where they will be seen by college scouts and grow their careers. With the advent of the National Womens Hockey League five years ago, another opportunity came to be. Many WNYGVIH players have moved on to DI, DIII and club teams at College. After College several have made it into professional play and coaching. Trying to locate these women has been a project and many are probably missing. Julia Duquette went to win 4 championships with Plattsburgh State College; coached at Bishop Kearned for the Selects and is now an assistant women’s ice hockey coach at Plattsburgh. Shauna Clair, who took the first faceoff in WNYGVIH, is now an assistant coach with Williamsville. Meghan Fonfara was first player from WNYGVIH to sign with NWHL Buffalo Beauts. In 2019-2020 Erin Gehen, Ana Orzechowski, Nikki Kirchberger, Maddie Norton, and Emma Ruggiero signed with the NWHL Buffalo Beauts. Emma can also be found behind the bench of the Kenmore/Grand Island varsity team as an assistant coach. Sirena Fitzery was awarded a Putnam Award in 2018 for her dedication and passion for the sport of ice hockey. Rachel Gramp is an assistant coach with the Buffalo State Bengals Women’s Ice Hockey Team. Chelsea Hausberger can be found behind the bench of the Lancaster/Iroquois/Depew girls varsity team.