GALLERY: Great photos from a great season
From Hornell High School Athletics, GALLERY by JC’s Photgraphy
Hornell – 1, Lafayette – 2
The Hornell Red Raiders impressive season came to an end with a narrow 2-1 loss to the Section VI Lafayette International Violets in the Far West Regional game at West Seneca West High School Saturday afternoon.
The Violets struck early, less than a minute into the game when a Hornell foul set up a Lafayette direct kick that sailed to the back of the net. Despite the early setback, the Red Raiders controlled the first half of play. Hornell’s Wyatt Evinhgam’s direct kick at 22:41 put the Red Raiders on the board and sent the teams into halftime tied at 1-1.
Lafayette came out strong in the second half, and their speed was hard to match. The Red Raiders battled hard, but the Violets capitalized on a short ball in Hornell territory to score the go-ahead goal with just under 15 minutes left to play.
Battling injury and illness coming into the game, the Red Raider showed tremendous heart and resilience throughout the match. “I’m very proud of the effort the boys put in tonight,” said Hornell coach, Jim Tobin. “We fell behind early in the game, and the boys battled back off of Wyatt’s goal to even the score.
“We felt good at halftime,” continued Tobin. “The second half was pretty even, but Lafayette capitalized off a mistake. We fought until the final buzzer went off. We were down two starters tonight, and we had players step up and give it everything they had.”
Starters, Nick Gray and Jayden Rasephei were sidelined coming into the game, and key player, Aquiles Souza – who scored the game-winning goal in the last week’s championship game against LeRoy/Cal-Mum – left the game midway through the second half with an ankle injury.
The Hornell Red Raiders finished their season with an impressive 17-1-2 record and as three-peat Section V champs. “Even thought tonight didn’t go our way, we still had a heck of a season,” reflected Tobin. “Our goal was 3 Sectional Titles, and we achieved it.
“We will surely miss seniors, Nash Adams, Hayden France, & Austin Mead. We also lose LCAA 1st Team All-Star seniors, Wyatt Evingham, Demayne Dixon, Nick Gray, & Marco Picco and LCAA 2nd Team All-Star seniors, Ryan Harkenrider, Alfie Whiteley, Gabe Rasephei, & Jayden Rasephei.”
