Just five teams qualified for the girls soccer Section III Class AA playoffs, meaning that three of them – Baldwinsville, Fayetteville-Manlius and West Genesee – had an automatic ticket to the semifinal round.
That wasn’t the case for Cicero-North Syracuse, the no. 4 seed. Despite a solid 10-5-1 regular-season mark, the Northstars found itself needing to play last week in order to get a shot at top-seeded B’ville.
After sufficient rest, C-NS took to the field last Saturday night in the AA playoffs against no. 5 seed Rome Free Academy. Unleashing its attack, the Northstars easily put away the Black Knights 5-1.
In particular, RFA’s defense had difficulty dealing with the duo of Ashlyn Slate and Morgan Siechen. Three times, Slate found the net, earning a hat trick as the passes often came from Siechen, who finished with three assists.
Together, they helped C-NS build a 3-0 halftime lead and then pull further away, the only blemish a late goal by the Black Knights’ Jamie Fleck.
Helping out Slate and Siechen, Marissa Bukowski and Claire McNitt picked up goals, with Madelyn Jackson and Brianna Dorrence getting credit for one assist apiece.
On Wednesday night at 5:30 at Chittenango, C-NS and B’ville face off, the Northstars having led the Bees in both regular-season meetings before taking 2-1 and 3-1 defeats, the latter of them in overtime.
F-M and West Genesee play in the other semifinal at 7:30 at Chittenango, with the winner getting the Northstars or Bees this weekend at SUNY-Cortland in the sectional title game.
