Head coach Dan Tomaszewski and the Fredonia Hillbillies won their second straight Section VI Class B2 title this fall, the first time in school history with back-to-back championships. P-J photo by Jason Bower
Dan Tomaszewski wasn’t always a soccer coach.
For years he coached football, track and even boys volleyball at Silver Creek.
But when the girls soccer position opened up three years ago at Fredonia, Tomaszewski jumped at the chance to coach his daughter, Josephine, and her closest friends.
The decision seems to have paid off.
In just three short years, the Hillbillies have grown into an area powerhouse and this past season won their second straight Section VI Class B2 championship.
Things didn’t start out great for the Hillbillies this fall as they lost their nonleague opener at Frontier 4-1 on Sept. 2, but four days later they found the win column with a 7-1 victory at home against Westfield/Brocton.
Fredonia then won its first two Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 West games of the season, but then hit a small rut losing three out of four.
“Regardless of what adversity we faced last year, we always ended up on top. Coming into this year, maybe we were kind of the mind set that would continue to be the case. … Rock bottom was the Jamestown game,” Tomaszewski said of a 5-1 loss to the Red Raiders on Sept. 29. “We flat out laid an egg. … From that point on, we really turned things around.”
A string of five wins in their final six league games earned the Hillbillies a share of the Division 1 West title with Jamestown.
Fredonia opened the Class B2 postseason with a 6-0 prequarterfinal victory over Silver Creek/Forestville followed by a 3-0 quarterfinal shutout of Springville.
In the semifinals at Sweet Home, the third-seeded Hillbillies blanked No. 7 Akron 2-0.
Three days later senior Rylee Beers scored two first-half goals in a 2-0 shutout of No. 5 Allegany-Limestone for Fredonia’s fifth sectional title in program history.
Unfortunately, Lewiston-Porter took away any chance for the Hillbillies to play in the Class B Far West Regional when the Lancers handed the Hillbillies a 7-0 defeat in the Class B crossover game.
“Regardless of the situation, they all played for one another. They picked each other up when they were down and they celebrated each other when they were up,” Tomaszewski said. “One of the things I told these girls is that these memories and friendships are going to be yours forever.”
Several of Tomaszewski’s players received postseason recognition.
Seniors Annie Gondek and Claire Marshall joined junior Ella Koopman as First-Team CCAA Division 1 West All-Stars. Gondek led the Hillbillies with 16 goals and eight assists; Marshall had a goal and two assists; and Koopman had four goals and three assists.
“We’ve had to lean on her for the last three seasons as long as I’ve been coaching in the program,” Tomaszewski said of Gondek. “She was our leading scorer, but we knew that we needed to find secondary scoring.”
Beers and fellow senior Josephine Tomaszewski were joined by junior Sophia Gullo on the Second Team. Beers and Gullo tied for second on the team with matching lines of eight goals and seven assists while Tomaszewski anchored a defense that allowed just 12 goals in league play and posted clean sheets in all four of the team’s Class B2 playoff games.
“We just knew that we were out of chances. If we didn’t play well game in and game out, you lose and go home. They didn’t want to be done playing,” Tomaszewski said of the string of shutouts. “Defensively, down the middle of the field, is where we try to be our strongest to make it difficult on our opponent. … To think we were going to get all of those shutouts, you don’t expect that come sectional time. That was just unbelievable to see.”
First-year senior goalkeeper Sarah Davis, senior Gigi Ferro and junior Ava Rukavina were named Honorable-Mention All-Stars. Davis allowed 18 goals on the season and made 116 saves while playing every minute for the Hillbillies. Ferro chipped in four assists while helping Tomaszewski anchor the defense. Rukavina posted three goals and four assists.
For leading Fredonia to its fifth sectional crown, including the first back-to-back titles in school history, and sharing the CCAA Division 1 West title, Tomaszewski is the Post-Journal/OBSERVER Coach of the Year for a second straight season.
“To be able to coach your own kid has been more rewarding than imaginable. Winning plays a large factor,” Tomaszewski said. “We’ve had a lot of success the last two years. Winning aside, it’s been the most fun coaching I’ve had in 20 years. It’s such a great group of kids. They are very coachable and always asking questions to try and get themselves to be better players.”
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