Glimpses of the past, present and future would mark the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team’s whirlwind early-season tour.
The Red Rams would get an up-close look at a new threat to its Section III Class A supremacy when it traveled to take on Marcellus last Friday night as part of a two-day tournament. Long the dominant force in Class B (and a state finalist in 2013), Marcellus moved up to Class A and the OHSL Freedom division this fall as part of an enrollment bump.
But J-D wouldn’t face Marcellus head-to-head. Instead, it conquered the other two teams in the tournament, starting on Friday when it took on West Genesee and won 3-0, the second time that week it had prevailed by that margin.
Overcoming the brutal heat and pacing itself, J-D jumped on the Wildcats, leading 2-0 by halftime and adding another goal in the latter stages. Erin Brinley led the way, scoring twice, with Paige Sherling adding the other goal and defender Caroline Kopp contributing an assist.
And a game against Westhill followed on Saturday afternoon, one that proved advantageous because the Warriors had expended plenty of energy defeating long-time nemesis Marcellus 1-0 the night before.
Taking full advantage, the Red Rams pummeled the Warriors 5-0, unleashing its quick attackers on a worn-out Westhill defense, which led to Alex Catanzarita putting in a pair of goals, with Brinley, Allie Balotin and Sophia Dimkopolous adding one goal apiece.
Before all this, the Rams dealt with a far more familiar league rival when it faced East Syracuse-Minoa last Tuesday afternoon, comfortably earning a 3-0 shutout over the Spartans.
Beating the rains, J-D gained a first-half goal, and then scored twice in the second half to pull clear, spreading its attack around.
Alex Catanzarita earned one goal and one assist, with Alex Fontana and Kallen Prosak also finding the net. Constantly in a defensive mode, ESM had to see goalie Amanda Goodhines record 12 saves to keep the game close most of the way.
Another team J-D will have to deal with in the OHSL Freedom division, Christian Brothers Academy, got off to a flying start last Wednesday night, going to Oswego and, by that same 3-0 margin, shutting out the Buccaneers.
With a solid returning core, the Brothers matched J-D’s effort against ESM by taking a 2-0 halftime lead and spreading around its production.
Emily Ehle, Kate Fletcher and Jess Slack had one goal apiece, with Kate LaCasse, Chloe Germain and Ariana Cavallaro getting single assists. CBA’s defense was quite strong, too, holding Oswego to just two shots all night.
ESM returned to action Thursday night and took a 2-0 defeat to visiting Fulton. Both of the Red Raiders’ goals came in the first half, where Callie Beckwith and Maddie Lang put shots past Goodhines, and while Goodhines gained six saves, the Spartans could not do much in its attack, seeing Fulton goalies Emily Kerfien and Hunter Hartranft combine for eight saves.
