Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012: Farrell soccer star scores six in 6-5 win

   Leading off today: Hearing that a soccer player scored six goals in a single high school game has a way of raising eyebrows, because it often is the result of a coach not having the good sense to dial it down a bit against an outmanned opponent.

   The folks at Monsignor Farrell get a no-questions-asked free pass on Tuesday's game in Queens, however.

   Senior forward Frankie Palazzo did all the scoring for his team in a 6-5 CHSAA victory against Holy Cross. He fell a goal shy of the school record set by Mario Forte in 1992, The Advance reported.

   "We've been working a lot with Frankie on moving into space, and it's been paying dividends," said Lions coach Eddie Hynes.

   Palazzo, who scored three times in a Saturday win, but the lead to 4-1 just five minutes into the second half, but Holy Cross chipped away to close the deficit to 5-4.

   Football rankings debut: Four NYSPHSAA champions from the conclusion of the 2011 season hold down No. 1 positions in the first New York State Sportswriters Association rankings of the new season.

   Topping the rankings are Orchard Park (Class AA), Lawrence (A), Maine-Endwell (B), Hornell (C) and Letchworth (D). Maine-Endwell and Hornell are playing one class lower than a year ago due to enrollment drops.

   Before Lawrence, St. Anthony's (Class AA in 2007) was the last team to start the rankings at No. 1 without being a participant in the NYSPHSAA playoff system. No Long Island public school had started at the top since Class A Bellport in 1990 in the pre-tournament era.

   Here are links to get you started:

• Large schools (AA, A)
• Small schools (B, C, D) and active winning streaks
• Weekend schedule for ranked teams
• Joe Glus' NYC thoughts
• RoadToSyracuse.com football site

   By the way, rankings in our other fall sports will be rolling out over the next week.

We've built a new page on the site that will be home to all of our current rankings during the school year, also allowing users to look back at previous weeks.

   Meeting recap: Eight people spoke in support of fired Williamsville South boys basketball coach Al Monaco at Tuesday's district school board meeting, and Buffalo police officer Marvin Sanford, who lodged a police complaint regarding Monaco, also took a turn at the mic, The Buffalo News reported.

   Sanford said residents may have been swayed by "mistruths" and said he wanted to set the record straight, but the paper reported be did not shed significant new light

RoadToSyracuse.com football site

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on the matter beyond asserting that an Amherst police investigation remains open. (Read his full statement here.)    The paper had previously reported investigators had closed the case without filing charges.

   Tony Luciano dies: Tony Luciano, a veteran coach as well as Section 2 committee member, died Saturday at the age of 91.

   Luciano's 35-year teaching and coaching career at Hudson Falls began in 1948. He coached football, basketball, track and cross country, and was also a longtime athletic director. He was the Section 2 secretary from 1957 to 1980 and served on the sectional basketball committee.

   “He was totally committed to his life and his profession,” said Doug Kenyon, who was hired by Luciano to coach basketball at Hudson Falls, told The Post-Star.

   Luciano was recently inducted into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, one of his many honors.

   “Tony, in my mind, was a guy that was the epitome of what a coach and a teacher should be,” Kenyon said. “First and foremost, he loved the kids. He commanded a lot of respect just because of his love for teaching and coaching. ... He was just totally committed and dedicated to what he did.”