HAMBURG — Streaks get snapped. Runs come to an end. But nobody ever seems prepared for it to happen,
Lewiston-Porter waltzed into its sixth consecutive Section VI final looking for its fourth championship in a row. And it had rolled through its schedule without much resistance, winning all 18 of its games, with 10 of them coming via shutout.
That all changed in the Section VI Class A2 championship game against East Aurora. The top-seeded Lancers front line was held off the scoreboard completely in a 3-0 loss to No. 2 East Aurora, which captured its third championship in a row after jumping up from Class B1 this season.
“I love these kids. They work hard. I’m proud to be connected with them,” Lew-Port head coach Rick Sweeney said. “You want them to get as much out of the experience as they can in so many different ways, beyond the wins and the losses.”
After only giving up eight goals all season, Lew-Port found itself in an early hole. East Aurora’s Owen Mack scored two goals in the opening half to give his team a 2-0 lead.
One of the biggest differences in the opening frame came from the Blue Devils defensive pressure where they consistently double and triple teamed the Lancers and held the entire team to four total shots.
East Aurora, which lost to Lew-Port in the 2022 Class B1 sectional final and beat them in the 2021 A2 title game, focused its defense on Luke Leardini, who racked up 45 goals and 17 assists entering the game. And the Lancers boasted an offense that tallied 119 goals, scoring at least three in 16 games.
“My two centerbacks, we worked on the last few days as far as being able to react and recover and being aware of (Leardini) because my two outside backs like to go,” East Aurora head coach Kevin Beale said. “It was everybody else who had to win their battles and all the players in the midfield up top, they won little battles. We win battles, we keep the ball we can attack.”
East Aurora (17-2-0) put the game away with a penalty kick goal to push them in front 3-0 with 32:44 to go in the game. The game was marred by physical play from both sides with the Lancers receiving nine cards while the Blue Devils received five cards. His team’s nine cards were as a direct result of their mounting frustration according to Sweeney.
The loss is the Lancers first of the season and drops their record to 18-1-0 overall. When he thinks about the season, Sweeney prefers to think about all the good times they had when he thinks about the campaign.
“It’s a group that I’m very proud of what they accomplished,” Sweeney said. “They played very hard for one another and kids who were a big part of our success. … But I’m very proud to be connected to this group.”