Without a nemesis like Marcellus in the way this time around, nothing less than a Section III Class B championship will make the Westhill girls soccer team happy.
Yet even with the no. 2 state ranking, the Warriors, at 15-1, only got the no. 2 seed in the sectional bracket because of the presence of 15-0-1 Lowville, a Frontier League school that didn’t face the same level of competition that Westhill did.
Following a first-round bye, the Warriors hit the field on Thursday night against no. 7 seed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown in the Class B quarterfinals, and with an all-out attack kept the Rebels on its heels all game long on the way to a 4-0 victory.
Not wanting any drama against an APW side it beat twice this season, the Warriors ran from the outset and overwhelmed the Rebels’ defenses, ultimately producing 31 shots.
While APW goalie Sydney Jones had a strong effort, recording 15 saves, Westhill still converted on four occasions with four different players – Jayanna Monds, Dana Radin, Kelly Lippert and Erin McMullen – getting those goals. Tatiana Monds earned a pair of assists as Shelby Stack, the Warriors’ defensive stalwart, also managed an assist.
Solvay wanted to get a shot at Westhill in the sectional semifinals – but doing so required winning a pair of early-round games on the road.
The no. 11 seed Bearcats got through one of them, though it took penalty kicks to eliminate no. 11 seed Holland Patent in last Tuesday’s opening round after they played to a 2-2 tie.
Solvay got a goal in each half, but so did the Golden Knights, as Nicole Antonacci and Chelsie Delperuto found the net for the Bearcats and, for HP, Matia Rosado scored one goal and assisted on the other, by Stephanie Finn.
Through 30 minutes of overtime – 20 normal, 10 sudden-death – nothing was settled. So it went to penalty kicks, and Samantha Waters, who recorded 12 saves, made three stops as the Bearcats put three past Golden Knights goalie Jensyn Warren to advance.
On Friday, Solvay went for a bigger upset against no. 3 seed Clinton in Friday’s Class B quarterfinal, but never got close to it as its defense unraveled in a 9-1 defeat to the Warriors.
Other than Delperuto’s goal, it proved mostly a showcase for Clinton’s attack, which forced Waters to make 25 saves, and still put plenty of shots past her. Darby D’Angelo, with three goals and one assist, led the way, with Jenna Devine and Hannah McHarris each scoring twice and Emma Short contributing three assists.
Thus, it’s Clinton facing Westhill in the semifinal round. The other Class B semifinal pits top-seed (but mostly unproven) Lowville against no. 4 seed Cazenovia, allowing for the possibility of a Westhill-Cazenovia sectional final after two dramatic overtime wins by the Warriors during the regular season.
