Nearly two decades have passed since the Marcellus girls soccer team put together back-to-back state Class B championships.
Now, a new generation of Mustangs are going after the ultimate prize, bound for the program’s first state final four since 2013 after a dominant second half produced a 3-0 victory over Chenango Valley in last Saturday’s regional final at Waverly Elementary School.
This was quite a contrast to the Section III final a week earlier, when Cece Powell’s pair of breakaway goals in the first 20 minutes made the difference against Christian Brothers Academy in a 2-0 decision.
In fact, the Mustangs’ defense took the spotlight in the early stages against Chenango Valley, the Section IV champions, who had plenty of early opportunities yet rarely were able to get direct shots on goalie Olivia Smolen.
On the other end, it was clear that Chenango Valley was bent on keeping Cece Powell from having any open looks, and that strategy worked for a while, the two sides going to halftime still 0-0.
Then, just seven minutes into the second half, the Mustangs forced a corner kick. Marielle Kennedy took it – and Claire Card headed home the game’s first goal.
Sparked by this goal, Marcellus picked up even more pressure and, in the 58th minute, doubled the margin to 2-0 when Jadyn Baker’s well-timed pass to the middle found Neve Murphy, who finished it off, just her second goal of the season.
With Chenango Valley rattled, the Mustangs sealed it with 11:11 to play, Janie Powell offering up the pass that her sister, Cece, took the rest of the way for her 30th goal of the season.
Now it’s off to the state final four, once a familiar destination but now something new for this group of Mustangs. On Saturday morning a 9:30 a.m. at Cortland High School, Marcellus meets Section V’s Haverling in the state semifinal, the winner to go to SUNY Cortland for Sunday’s championship game, also at 9:30 a.m, against Babylon or Saranac.
West Genesee, fresh off its dramatic win over East Syracuse Minoa in the sectional Class AA final on Anna Nelson’s goal in the waning seconds of overtime, wanted to join Marcellus at the state final four, but could not do so.
Columbia, the Section II champions, defeated the Wildcats 2-0 last Saturday night at Nottingham High School, netting a goal in each half and not allowing WG to answer it.
Ella Hebler and Molly Simmons put in Columbia’s goals, with assists to Madelyn Marra and Kamilla Conboy. That it didn’t turn into more was a tribute to a resilient Wildcats defense that surrendered 21 shots, but saw goalies Jenna Orr and Julia Poissant combine to stop 19 of them.
WG’s season finished with a 15-2-2 record while Marcellus will join New Hartford (Class A), Sauquoit Valley (Class C) and Cincinnatus (Class D) as Section III teams pursuing state titles this weekend.
