In pursuit of a third consecutive Section III Class B championship, the East Syracuse-Minoa field hockey team knows that few will expect that to happen.
Still, by virtue of a tough 1-0 semifinal victory over no. 3 seed Whitesboro in Sunday’s semifinal on its home turf, the Spartans advanced to meet top seed Camden in this Saturday’s final at Rome Free Academy Stadium.
With rain, wind and chilly temperatures to fight through, ESM faced enough of a challenge against Whitesboro, slogging through a 0-0 first half that featured few genuine opportunities on either side.
This increased the challenge for the Spartans’ defense, but that unit, without a single senior on it, was up to that challenge, as juniors Madelyn Fingar, Hannah Owens and Laura Bennink, along with freshmen Lindsey Russell and Emily Hunter, stopped the Warriors cold and offered terrific protection to goalie Alyxandra Panarites.
Meanwhile, ESM had to accept sporadic attacks, missing on a couple of close-up shots and a series of four straight penalty corners late in the half, waiting for a breakthrough.
That came less than five minutes into the second half. Earning a penalty corner, the Spartans passed the ball to the point, where junior attacker Katrina Shiomos smashed a shot that rocketed past Whitesboro goalie Breanna Langett and put ESM in front.
Though a second goal midway through the half was disallowed, ESM still protected that lead, the defense in top form, something it will need even more in the final against Camden.
On its way to a 15-1-1 record, the Blue Devils have scored 92 goals, an average of more than five per game, with Holland Patent transfer Alyssa Curtis earning 36 of those goals, helped by Sidney McGowan (16 goals) and Kendra Walker (14 goals). Camden smashed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 9-0 in last Saturday’s sectional semifinal.
A season ago, when Fayetteville-Manlius rose up and won its first Section III Class A title since 1989, it did so at Cicero-North Syracuse’s expense.
Now F-M and C-NS were together again, only it was in the sectional Class A semifinals, where the no. 4 seed Hornets again looked to knock out the top-seeded Northstars, and again it took place at RFA Stadium – but this time, C-NS would prevail, using a late scoring surge to beat F-M 3-1.
They had played twice in the regular season, F-M winning at home 2-1 on Sept. 18, and again on Oct. 18 at Bragman Stadium, which C-NS got even with a 2-0 victory.
Exactly a week after the second encounter, they were together again, and they would trade goals in the first half, and that 1-1 tie held up through much of the second half, too, as the tension continued to build.
Then Megan Caveny stepped up and delivered C-NS’s biggest goal of the season, putting one past F-M netminder Caroline Baril with 7:40 to play. Minutes later, the Northstars tacked on an insurance goal, and the path to the title game was clear.
Just to reach that game, F-M first had to make it through an opening-round battle with Rome Free Academy, the no. 5 seed, and did so in a 1-0 shutout of the Black Knights.
Tough conditions made it difficult for both sides to handle the ball. Thus, any goal would prove precious, and when Nancy Bansbach scored off a feed from Sophie Craig in the first half, the Hornets had more control than it imagined.
For the rest of the night, F-M got shut down, the Black Knights’ defense ably protecting goalie Paula Arno, who had five saves. And RFA had plenty of opportunities, too, but every time Baril managed to turn them back, the Hornets goalie stopping all seven shots she faced.
