With yet another blazing start, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team again appeared to separate itself from any of its serious local Class A challengers.
Still, East Syracuse Minoa would take a shot at the Red Rams last Thursday night, and for the most part the Spartans kept J-D off the board during the normal flow of play.
It was only in set pieces – specifically, corner kicks – that the Rams, anchored by Tonia Kousmanidis, were able to break through , eventually earning a 3-0 victory.
A young ESM defense was under constant pressure, yet held up well until the 22nd minute, when Kousmanidis sent a corner kick to the middle that Grace Dimkopoulos put into the net.
Isabelle Chavoustie, the Spartans’ freshman goalkeeper, made some tremendous stops late in the first half and kept it 1-0 going to the break, but J-D stayed patient.
Four minutes into the second half, Kousmanidis forced Chavoustie to meet her and, taking a pass from Megan Baker in the left corner, fit in the Rams’ second goal. With 6:46 left, J-D sealed it with another corner kick that Kousmanidis fed and Baker converted.
Two days earlier, both sides won by identical 9-0 margins, with J-D smashing Syracuse City and ESM doing the same to Oswego.
Scoring eight times in the first half against Syracuse, the Red Rams spread its production around, Dimkopoulos and Megan Baker the only players to score twice.
Sydney Baker and Lindsey Hildreth both had one goal and one assist, with Kousmanidis, Denise Yaeger and Ava Brazie also finding the net and Sydney Balotin getting an assist.
Meanwhile, ESM claimed its third consecutive victory with a similar effort at Oswego, the Spartans earning a 3-0 advantage on the Buccaneers by halftime and tripling the margin before the night was done.
Angelina Polcaro led the way with a three-goal hat trick, plus an assist. Abby Hudgins scored twice, with Jenna Hudgins earning a goal and two assists. Sophie Hartz and Natalie Peterson each had one goal and one assist as Sophia Conzone contributed a goal and Hailey Cwikla got an assist.
And after the defeat to J-D, ESM roared back to form Saturday by blanking Fulton 5-0, most of the damage done in the second half as Bella Pickard scored twice and added a pair of assists. Ciwkla had one goal and one assist, with Peterson and Polcaro also scoring and Hudgins adding an assist.
Earlier in the week, Bishop Grimes recorded an impressive 5-0 victory over Bishop Ludden, moving ahead 3-0 by halftime as Jenna Sloan scored twice to lead the Cobras.
Things turned around by Thursday afternoon, though, Grimes shut out 2-0 by Pulaski, who had Alexandra Magee earn assists on goals by Mariah McConnell and Krysta Glazier.
That same day, Manlius-Pebble Hill went up against Fabius-Pompey, unable to get on the board in a 4-0 defeat as Ashley Osborn scored two of the Falcons’ goals. The Trojans were held to just three shots all game. A 5-1 defeat to Pulaski followed on Saturday afternoon.
