Jayanna Monds was offsides by several yards, as far as the Cazenovia girls soccer team was concerned. Westhill, on the other hand, thought that Monds had perfectly timed her run.
The only thing that matters was that no whistle was blown. And Monds, with just 10 seconds to play in overtime, put home the decisive goal as the state Class B no. 3-ranked Warriors edged past the state no. 8-ranked Lakers 3-2 in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
It brought a crashing end to a rousing contest that matched their first encounter in late September, which also went to overtime and also was taken by Westhill, 2-1, at the Sean Googin Sports Complex when Cazenovia held the no. 2 spot in the state rankings.
Since then, the Warriors had not lost, while the Lakers had suffered one setback (a 3-0 defeat to Marcellus on Oct. 4), and the pair had emerged as the favorites for the Section III Class B playoffs that get underway next week.
And that led to the rematch, played amid the rawest conditions of the season. Wind constantly blew, and the rain started and stopped throughout the afternoon, which had much to do with the timing of the game’s important sequences.
With the rain still falling late in the first half, Cazenovia’s Saige Ackermann sent a low shot to the net that Westhill goalie Ariana Heneberry mishandled, the ball finding its way into the net for a 1-0 Lakers lead that held until halftime.
But it wasn’t raining early in the second half, and Westhill, gaining the wind advantage, pounced. Less than 90 seconds into the half, Monds, off a long feed from Erin McMullen, charged in and easily beat Cazenovia goalie Maggie Johnson to tie it, 1-1.
Less than four minutes later, when the Lakers had trouble clearing the ball out of the area in front of the net, the Warriors’ Dana Radin forced a turnover and quickly shot it past Johnson to put Westhill in front.
Even with that, and even though Cazenovia barely could get an attack going, it pulled back even, 2-2, in the 57th minute when Audrey Burbidge, bottled up by constant double teams all game long, broke free up the middle and waited for Heneberry to run out and challenge before sliding a shot into the net.
Despite frequent opportunities on both ends, that tie would endure, through the end of regulation the first 10-minute overtime. The second OT saw Casey Crawford’s free kick get stopped by Heneberry with two minutes left, and it looked like a draw.
Only Monds had other ideas. Just as the clock was ticking down, she spied a long pass heading her way and, with a teammate, broke toward the Lakers’ net.
Cazenovia’s defenders, expecting an offsides call, didn’t chase her, and Monds gathered in the ball, dribbling in and sending it past Johnson as the Warriors celebrated and the Lakers looked on in disbelief.
Before going to Westhill, Cazenovia (13-3) first visited Phoenix last Tuesday afternoon, and it turned into a romp where the Lakers set a season mark for goals and rolled past the Firebirds 13-0.
There was enough time for Burbidge and Ackermann to each score three times, earning hat tricks. Casey Crawford and Lizzy Bigsby, with two goals apiece, offered ample support, and even Johnson contributed a goal, as did Olivia McEntee and Kate Sullivan.
