Catie Woodruff was charging toward the net near the midway point of the second half of Tuesday night’s Section III Class B semifinal at Nottingham High School, her Skaneateles girls soccer team trailing neighbor and rival Marcellus by a goal, but now with a great chance to pull even.
One well-timed flick from Woodruff, or one mistake by Mustangs goalie Meg Blystone, and the Lakers would see its two-goal deficit erased, and its chances of reaching a sectional final against Westhill improved.
Blystone did kick it out of danger, though, and Skaneateles, the no. 4 seed, fell to top-seeded Marcellus 2-1, again seeing its quest to reach a first sectional final since 2004 thwarted by its neighbors in green and white, who scored both of its goals in a sudden first-half burst, and held on from there.
Skaneateles and Marcellus met just once in the regular season, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw on Sept. 15. It was different now, partially because the Lakers were without one of its top player, Tate Green, who suffered a broken leg in her team’s sectional quarterfinal win over Holland Patent.
Less than six minutes into the game, the Mustangs nearly had its own problem when Madi Belvito, on a charge to the net, banged knees with Skaneateles goalie Mae McGlynn. Belvito had to be helped off the field, but would return later in the game and contribute on defense after a stunning sequence put her team in front.
Just past the midway point of the first half, Marcellus earned a corner kick. Keelin Kelly delivered it right to the goal line, where Jada Sargeant poked it past McGlynn and the Mustangs led, 1-0.
Often, the most vulnerable moment for a team is right after a goal. But just after Skaneateles kicked it off, the Mustangs regained possession and Sargeant delivered a perfect pass to a streaking Liz White, who fired home a second goal just 15 seconds after the first one.
The combination of that outburst and some nice stops from Blystone gave the Mustangs a 2-0 cushion going to the second half that, as it turned out, was needed.
In the 52nd minute, Skaneateles pulled within one when Lauren Goodchild delivered a superb shot from the left side that eluded Blystone and found the top right corner of the net.
From that point on, though, the Mustangs, instead of sitting back, increased its own pressure, and rarely let the Lakers get good opportunities the rest of the way.
Still, Woodrfuff, who scored all four of the Lakers’ goals against Holland Patent, made that big rush up the middle in the 57th minute that Blystone, who finished with six saves, had to turn away. And another shot by Goodchild with three minutes left on a free kick went over the net.
Skaneateles ended its season at 11-6-1, but will see 12 seniors depart, including Woodruff, Goodchild, Green, Melissa Amory, Makie Kerr, Hannah Logan and Molly Newton, leaving for a tall task for the Lakers in 2016.
