A 7-0 start by the Chittenango girls soccer team had garnered plenty of attention, but it still had not faced its most difficult regular-season tests.
And they arrived within a 48-hour span last week, with the Bears first going to Westhill, and then venturing to Marcellus to meet the area’s most accomplished Class B programs.
The trip to Westhill last Tuesday began quite well, and Chittenango even led late in the first half, but then it all broke apart in the middle stages as the Warriors took over and prevailed 4-1.
Though slow out of the gate, Westhill did have most of the early opportunities. Chittenango weathered them and, in the 27th minutes, took a 1-0 lead when Emily Moon’s free kick from the right corner was deflected in by Ally Shoemaker.
Everything changed when, less than four minutes before halftime, Bears goalie Cassidy Kelly could not hold on to Rudnick’s initial shot from a cross by Ashley Bolesh and Rudnick tapped in the rebound.
The 1-1 tie lasted all of 56 seconds in the second half before Bolesh, after Kelly’s spectacular diving stop on a Rudnick shot, sped in and converted the rebound. Then Erica Gangemi scored on a breakaway less than five minutes later, again assisted by Rudnick
Those three goals in a span of less than nine minutes proved decisive, though Gangemi would add a second goal, again off a feed from Rudnick. Worse yet for the Bears, defender Alivia Narolis left the game late with an injury. Kelly finished the night with 10 saves.
Now Chittenango went to Marcellus, and this proved even more exciting, a back-and-forth battle that was not decided until late in the second overtime period, where the Bears finally were subdued in a 3-2 decision.
Most of the first half was scoreless until the Mustangs’ Sara Milniecki scored in the 36th minute. And it got worse for Chittenango when Sarah Fallon found the net less than five minutes into the second half.
But the Bears showed lots of resolve, getting on the board when Moon’s corner kick was put home by Maryanna Garcia, and tying it 2-2 when another Moon corner deflected off several players before Shoemaker converted.
So it went to overtime, and much of the 20 minutes went without a decisive goal. Then, with 2:10 left, Sarah Fallon’s cross was charged by Mielnicki, but she faked a shot and, instead, Katie MacLachlan put the ball past Kelly, who to that point had recorded eight saves.
This tough week brought Chittenango back home on Saturday to face Cicero-North Syracuse, and though it tried to bounce back, the Bears could not quite do so, falling 3-2 to the Northstars despite goals by Madison Wagner and Sarah Martin. Kelly finished with 20 saves.
As Chittenango fell to Westhill, Cazenovia, 5-2-1 in the first half of the regular season, was having its own match against Marcellus, and getting quite close to pushing the state-ranked Mustangs to overtime.
Annie Baldwin landed an unassisted goal, with Goalie Tessa Hansknecht recording eight saves. But Marcellus prevailed 2-1 thanks to goals by Sarah Fallon and Katie MacLachlan, with assists going to Mei LaMarre and Sam Wynne.
Rebounding from this, the Lakers rolled past Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 3-0 on Thursday afternoon. Twice, Reff scored, giving Cazenovia a cushion after Lili Gavitt put her team on the board. Gavitt and Caitlin Smithers both earned assists.
The Lakers would go to Mexico on Thursday and then host Phoenix Thursday night as Chittenango, after all the challenges it faced last week, would have its own match Thursday against Mexico.
