Normally, by the last week of October, the discussion around the Marcellus and Westhill girls soccer teams is about which side was going to prevail in their inevitable Section III Class B playoff clash.

In 2017, the sectional bracket was set up so that the top-seeded Warriors and no. 5 seed Mustangs would meet in the semifinals, so long as both sides survived two early-round matches.

But Marcellus never made it out of the first round, stunned at home by no. 12 seed Holland Patent in a 2-0 decision last Thursday night that marked the earliest Mustangs playoff exit in recent annals.

HP arrived at Marcellus with a 10-5 record, having shared Center State Conference regular-season honors with Clinton, but in years past such honors hadn’t meant much in playoff games at Marcellus.

Here, though, the Golden Knights’ defense was superb from start to finish, limiting the Mustangs’ opportunities. HP goalie Hayden Roberts only had to make four saves.

Marcellus kept the game 0-0 until the second half, when Sara Rachon and Hannah Bochniak put shots past Kendall Koloski, all the goals that HP needed.

Westhill endured no such surprises, taking out no. 16 seed General Brown 7-0 in last Thursday’s opening round as it scored five times in the first half to erase any possible suspense.

Seven different players earned those seven Warriors goals, with four of them – Erica Gangemi, Lauren Holstein, Mackenzie Powers and Olivia Bolesh – picking up assists. Katelyn Karleski, Lauren Marshall and Sam VanBuren had the other goals as Megan O’Reilly and Sophia Caron picked up assists.

Two days later, in the sectional quarterfinals, Westhill hosted no. 9 seed Cazenovia, who had used Kirsten Underwood’s goal in the last 90 seconds of regulation to knock off Skaneateles 2-1 in the first round.

The Warriors had routed the Lakers 6-0 on Sept. 22, and while it may have expected a closer rematch, that didn’t happen as Westhill won again 6-0, featuring another terrific first half where four goals buried Cazenovia’s hopes.

Overcoming seven saves by Lakers goalie Hannah Matteson, Caron scored twice, with single goals going to  Holsten, O’Reilly, Marshall and Ciarra Rudnick. Karleski and VanBuren joined Rudnick in the assist column.

Since Holland Patent beat Oneida 1-0 in its quarterfinal, the Golden Knights would get a chance at another massive upset against Westhill in the sectional semifinal Tuesday at Fayetteville-Manlius, with no. 2 seed Lowville and no. 3 seed Clinton meeting in the other semifinal.

On Thursday night, West Genesee sought to topple defending champion Liverpool in the sectional Class AA quarterfinals, and gave it an all-out effort, only to see its season end with a 1-0 loss to the Warriors.

Two regular-season defeats to Liverpool motivated WG, the no. 7 seed, who would play sound defense throughout the game, making no. 2 seed Liverpool battle for all of its opportunities as Liz Croft picked up six saves.

That defense blanked the Warriors after Morgan Mitchell’s goal late in the first half, giving the Wildcats ample time to get even. However, with a handful of great chances, WG could get nothing past Megan Merrifield, who stopped all six shots she faced.

Back on Tuesday night, Bishop Ludden, holding the no. 12 seed in Class D, visited no. 5 seed Sackets Harbor and got close to forcing penalty kicks, only to fall 1-0 in overtime to the Patriots.

Through 80 minutes of regulation and the first 10-minute extra period, it stayed 0-0. The Gaelic Knights had plenty of chances to go in front, and even had a go-ahead goal disallowed by offsides.

Sackets was unlucky, too, with a handball denying them a goal in the first OT. But with 4:30 left in the second OT, Kelsey Gonseth, getting a pass from Alexes Williams, converted to put the Patriots in front.

Still, it wasn’t over. Ludden attacked hard in the waninig minutes, and two good shots got tipped over the net by Sackets goalie Hailey Martin, who finished with 12 saves. Sarah Boyea made eight saves for the Gaelic Knights, who finished its season 6-9-2.