Mere minutes away from a berth in the state Class A championship game for the second time in three years, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team saw the whole thing fall apart – due in some way to the strong work of its opponent, but also due to a call that will sting for a long time to come.
Somers, the Section I champions, staged a late-game comeback in Saturday’s state Class A semifinal at Tompkins-Cortland Community College in Dryden, toppling the Red Rams 2-1. But it was the way it all unfolded that made it so stinging.
Moving into the final stages of regulation, J-D held a 1-0 lead, having attained it when Erin Brinley’s 25-yard free kick late in the first half slipped out of the grasp of Tuskers goalkeeper Liz Hanley and tumbled into the net.
Through much of the second half, Somers had picked up its pressure, only to see J-D’s switch from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 defensive alignment prove effective in turning away most of the Tuskers’ opportunities.
Then, with 8:29 to play, everything started to unravel.
Somers’ Jenna Menta made a spectacular run down the right side of the field, and then, from 30 yards out, made a strong cross to the middle, where J-D goalie Maddy Frank moved out to meet the ball, but the Tuskers’ Hannon Eberts brushed it by her with a header to tie the game, 1-1.
Fired up by this, Somers pushed again deep into J-D’s end. And with 5:47 to play, contact was made inside the 18-yard box, similar to the type of contact both teams had made on both ends of the field throughout the game.
Only in this case, that contact drew a whistle, and an official pointing to the spot where penalty kicks are taken.
“I didn’t think it was the right call in a game like this,” said J-D head coach Hayley Nies, clearly reflecting the opinions of her players and the Red Rams fans braving the chilly temperatures in Dryden.
Stunned, J-D could only watch as Somers’ Melina Couzis coolly deposited her penalty kick inside the right post, opposite to where Frank was diving, for the go-ahead goal. The Rams could not pull back even.
Ever since the Section III Class A quarterfinal on Oct. 23, when CBA pushed J-D into penalty kicks, the Rams had not really felt much stress in any of its four subsequent post-season games, including regional-game routs over Scotia-Glenville (6-0) and Massena (8-0).
Somers, though, would restore the challenge, overcoming J-D’s initial set of attacks with a physical effort on defense, and then making runs aimed straight at Caroline Kopp, Julia Slisz, Chloe Hayward and the rest of the Rams’ imposing back line.
That kept the game 0-0 through much of the first half. But then Brinley got her bit of good fortune in the 29th minute, J-D led and now the mission shifted toward protecting that slim margin.
Frank, who made six saves, had her best stop midway through the second half, diving on Menta’s point-blank attempt and then scooping up the ensuing corner kick. And all of J-D’s front-line players joined that resistance, which almost worked.
“They (Somers) are a strong, physical team,” said Nies. “We did a good job battling them.”
But instead of a shot at denying Long Island powerhouse Rockville Centre South Side a record 18th state title (and avenging its 2012 state finals defeat to the Cyclones), J-D found itself stunned and angry at the abrupt end of its 21-game win streak.
Perhaps the lone comfort came from knowing that, despite the departures of Frank, Brinley, Kopp, Slisz and Amber Hyatt, a returning cast that includes Hayward, Alex Catanzarite, Sophia Dimkopoulos, Allie Balotin, Paige Sherling, Elena Haarer, Alex Fontana and Alex Epifani makes J-D a strong favorite to get right back to this same point in 2015, and perhaps have a bit more fortune smile on them.
