The West Genesee girls soccer team went through a tough finish to its regular season, not winning, but not giving up, either.
These Wildcats honored its seniors prior to last Tuesday’s home finale against Liverpool, but the reigning Section III Class AA champions were in no mood to contribute to the celebration, defeating the Wildcats 5-2.
There was a goal in each half, Emma Parry converting early and Katie McManus doing so in the latter stages, with Angelina Barnello earning an assist. Combined, Liz Croft and Erin Lum made 10 saves, yet could not contain an explosive Liverpool attack led by Carli Kovarik, who scored twice, and Bri Kovarik, who had a goal and two assists.
WG would get a strong result Friday at Fayetteville-Manlius, playing the Hornets to a 1-1 draw. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Wildcats got even with Grace Walker’s second-half goal, and kept it that way through the rest of regulation and two OT periods, helped by having Croft record nine saves.
When the sectional Class AA pairings were announced on Sunday, WG had the no. 7 seed, meaning it would face no. 2 seed Liverpool again in the quarterfinals on Thursday night, with the winner getting Rome Free Academy or Central Square in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Solvay absorbed a 2-1 defeat at Phoenix last Tuesday afternoon, unable to quite keep up despite a goal from Taylor Clisson and 12 saves from Haley Muehl. Alexandra Hoag and Madison Pelton earned the Firebirds’ goals.
In Thursday night’s 4-0 loss to Homer, the Bearcats saw Muehl make 18 saves, but not put much pressure on the Trojans, who got away as Nina Armideo earned two goals. Solvay then fell 2-0 to Manlius-Pebble Hill on Saturday to end its season.
Also playing last Tuesday, Jordan-Elbridge hosted Mexico and lost, 3-1, to the Tigers, who mostly depended on Ashton Ariola’s pair of goals to pull through. Mia Arms kept it close, making 20 saves as Alexis Braun netted the Eagles’ lone goal.
Another close game on Friday saw J-E take a 5-4 defeat to Cato-Meridian. Braun scored twice, with Allison Jennings and Ella Bard adding single goals. The Blue Devils got two goals apiece from Miranda Myhill-LaForce and Jaelin Hill, with Olivia Ford adding a goal.
Bishop Ludden went through both extremes last week, first handling Pulaski 6-0 on Tuesday, it second shutout over the Blue Devils in five days.
The six goals came from six different players – Katie Costello, Abbey Bombard, Emma Driscoll, Hannah Roesch, Olivia Boyea and Brigid Lawless. Costello and Bombard added assists as Riley Murphy also got in the assist column.
On the other end of it, Ludden (6-8-2) could not contain Tully in a 4-0 defeat on Thursday afternoon. The Black Knights improved to 14-1-1 mostly on the strength of Alexi Hamilton’s three-goal hat trick as Gaelic Knights goalie Sarah Boyea made eight saves.
Given the no. 12 seed in the sectional Class D playoffs, Ludden will travel north on Tuesday to face no. 12 seed Sackets Harbor in the first round, the winner advancing to the quarterfinals against Morrisville-Eaton or Copenhagen.
