A crowded first two weeks of October would see each of the area’s high school girls soccer teams play as many as six games.
None had as much color as last Friday’s lone regular-season showdown between Marcellus and Westhill, long-time antagonists who always seemed to battle for Class B superiority.
The Mustangs, once at no. 2 in the state rankings, had fallen to no. 15, and the Warriors were in fine form. Yet over the course of 100 minutes, nothing got settled as Marcellus and Westhill had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Through a scoreless first half, Westhill had most of the chances, yet was kept off the board. And even when Brooke Zollo scored for the Warriors in the second half, Anna Vetsch converted to keep it even.
Twenty full minutes of overtime did not offer a resolution, either, as Marcellus goalie Kendall Koloski worked her total to 12 saves, more than twice that of Warriors counterpart Lauren Bendall, who had five saves.
Westhill had started its week by putting away Solvay 5-0 for its sixth win in a row, bolting ahead of the Bearcats 2-0 by halftime and continuing to produce despite 11 saves by Haley Muehl.
Ciarra Rudnick scored twice, as did Erica Gangemi, with Rudnick adding an assist. Ashley Bolesh had the other goal as assists were also credited to Lauren Holstein, Quinn Mannion and Sophia Caron.
West Genesee was supposed to play Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday night, but rain and lightning hit just as they got underway, and it was postponed until this Wednesday night..
However, the Wildcats did make it to Liverpool last Thursday, attempting to get its first regular-season sweep over the Warriors in recent memory, but only able to earn a 1-1 draw.
Sammie Snyder put WG in front in the first half, only to have Liverpool get even with Abby Brancato’s second-half goal, assisted by Abby Haley.
Through the rest of regulation, plus 20 minutes of overtime, it stayed tied. Combined, goalies Liz Croft and Caitlin Mills had six saves, the same total the Warriors’ Megan Merrifield got herself.
WG did win on Saturday, toppling New Hartford 2-0 on goals by Shannon Foster and Jackie Vigliotti. Between them, Croft and Mills managed to stop all seven Spartans shots.
Bishop Ludden played last Monday and lost, 4-1, to Onondaga – coached, of course, by former Westhill boss Lisa Eipp. Katie Costello had the Gaelic Knights’ lone goal as Avianna Baker and Danielle Field each scored twice for the Tigers.
Ludden recovered Wednesday to edge Pulaski 1-0, a first-half goal by Brigid Lawless the only time the Gaelic Knights could solve Blue Devils goalie Abby Jordal, whose 15 saves kept the game close.
A far bigger win came on Saturday as Ludden edged Bishop Grimes 1-0. This time it was Abbey Ryan breaking up the scoreless by finding the net in the second half, Olivia Boyea stopping each of the Cobras’ six shots on net.
Jordan-Elbridge was 0-10 going into last Monday’s game against Cato-Meridian, but finally broke into the win column, edging the Blue Devils 1-0 in overtime.
Neither team scored until the first OT, when Gabriella Bard, off a feed from Avery Yard, put it past Cato goalie Meghan McCarthy. The Eagles held the Blue Devils to just one shot and overcame McCarthy’s 13 saves.
But then J-E had to face Marcellus on Wednesday night, and that turned into an 8-0 romp as 10 different Mustangs had a part in at least one of the goals.
Anna Vetsch scored twice, as did Sarah Hutchings, with Emma Holzwarth getting one goal and one assist. Sarah Fallon, Sami Tone and Ilah Welsh also found the net, with assists going to Caroline Trytek, Emma Garn, Sarah Fallon and Mei LaMarre.
J-E also played on Thursday afternoon, taking a 5-0 defeat to Phoenix as Sophia Titus made 20 saves for the Eagles. Five different players scored those five goals for the Firebirds.
Solvay lost last Wednesday to Chittenango 4-1, with Taylor Clisson’s goal preventing a shutout for the Bearcats. On the other side, Sarah Martin produced a three-goal hat trick for the Bears as Madison Wagner got one goal and one assist.
