Deep into a damp, overcast Saturday night at SUNY-Cortland, the Liverpool girls soccer team continued the chase of Baldwinsville that had lasted throughout this autumn and had consumed three head-to-head meetings, including the Section III Class AA championship game.
At the very end, the Warriors caught up, doing so when Abby Kovarik slid a penalty kick past Mackenzie Hanna to help clinch a 4-1 shoot-out after the two sides played to a 0-0 draw and were declared sectional co-champions.
Of the four sectional titles Liverpool has won in the last six years, this one may have proved the most satisfying because B’ville was the front-runner from the moment the season got underway and built a 17-0-1 record, rising to no. 7 in the state AA rankings.
That included two wins by the Bees over Liverpool in September, but while the first one was a 3-0 margin at LHS Stadium, the second was a 2-1 decision where the Warriors showed vast improvement in its ability to contain B’ville’s fleet group of forwards.
Combine that with the Bees having to grind out a 1-0 sectional semifinal victory over Fayetteville-Manlius last Tuesday at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium as Liverpool was blasting Rome Free Academy 6-0 in the other semifinal at Chittenango High School, and the Warriors had reason to think it could conquer B’ville.
“We were pretty confident going in,” said Liverpool head coach Kevin McGrane.
The sectional final would showcase this newfound confidence on the Warriors’ part. Fueled by Bri Kovarik’s long runs, Liverpool got early opportunities, only to see B’ville gradually build up its pressure as the first half went on.
Then a bit of good fortune struck when a possible Bees goal on a corner kick in the 33rd minute was disallowed due to a foul amid the scramble in front of the net. B’ville protested, but it stayed 0-0 going into halftime.
The second half mirrored the first, with Liverpool getting early runs and B’ville proving more durable. Still, both sides nearly scored in a frantic sequence where the Bees’ Simone Neivel hit the post and, seconds later, Bri Kovarik’s shot from a tough left angle went inches wide right.
Other than that, the game was a showcase for Liverpool’s defenders. Between Abby Kovarik, Divya Duraisamy, Drew Patterson, Emily Dorr and Natalie Tauro, the Warriors’ back line forced B’ville into taking most of its shots from long range, which carried a low percentage and didn’t find the target.
“The girls bought in to what we we talked about,” said McGrane. “We played really tight inside, and forced them (B’ville) to take shots they didn’t want to take.”
Just as valuable was the work in goal by sophomore Megan Merrifield, who coolly handled all the shots sent to her, long and short-range. McGrane said Merrifield’s growth throughout the season was evident on this night.
Eighty minutes of regulation didn’t settle matters, nor did 20 minutes of mandatory overtime and 10 minutes of sudden death, so the battle went to penalty kicks.
Liverpool went first, and Bri Kovarik converted past a diving Hanna. Then B’ville’s Carolyn Brussel missed the net. Lynsey Roth was successful, but the Bees’ Addison Hornsey hit the crossbar.
Up 2-0 in the shoot-out, the Warriors needed two more, and after Carli Kovarik proved succeessful and Mackenzie Shaffner finally got B’ville on the board, it was only fitting that Abby Kovarik, a defender, sent the last shot past Hanna.
Next Saturday at 1:30, Liverpool meets the winner of the Section II championship game, Bethlehem or Niskayuna, at Fulton in the AA regional final, with a berth in the Nov. 12-13 state final four at stake.
