It’s now time for the Section III girls soccer playoffs, where Jamesville-DeWitt is aiming for its 11th consecutive Class A title and the likes of Christian Brothers Academy and East Syracuse Minoa want to make noise, too.
But the Red Rams won’t have the top seed. Instead, it has the no. 2 seed and Central Square owns the no. 1 seed, the Red Rams awaiting a quarterfinal Friday against no. 7 seed Whitesboro.
J-D was still no. 2 in the state Class A rankings and, because Central Square took a 1-1 draw with Auburn to fall to 12-1-1 in league play, the Red Rams had a chance, in last Thursday’s game against Cortland, to lock up another SCAC Empire division regular-season title with a 14-1 league mark.
Handling the cold, wet conditions, J-D blanked the Purple Tigers 5-0, improving as the game went on as it gained a modest 1-0 advantage before halftime and then took off.
Grace Dimkopoulos was the central figure, dishing out three assists to go with a lone tally. Megan Baker scored twice, adding an assist, while Tonia Kousmanidis and L Linder also converted.
Having played well throughout October, CBA kept it up in last Tuesday’s game at Phoenix, putting together a 2-0 shutout of the Firebirds that included a pair of goals from Emma Infanti.
ESM would get challenged in a big way last Tuesday night when it hosted state Class AA no. 12-ranked Baldwinsville, and kept things quite for a while before the Bees took over late and prevailed 2-0.
All through the first half, B’ville pushed against a stingy Spartans’ defense, but it remained 0-0, raising brief hopes that ESM could spring a major upset.
Then the Bees’ star duo of Simone Neivel and Hannah Mimas took over. Neivel put one past Isabelle Chavoustie less than two minutes into the second half, and 10 minutes later Mimas scored off a pass from McKenna Miller.
Perhaps the confidence gained from a strong effort against B’ville spilled over into Thursday’s game against Fulton, because on Senior Night the Spartans got goals from all three of its seniors and shut out the Red Raiders 4-0.
ESM led 2-0 by halftime, with goals from seniors Sophie Hartz and Bella Pickard. Then it converted twice more in the second half as the other senior, Hailey Cwikla, was able to find the net.
Drawing the no. 6 seed for the sectional Class A playoffs, the Spartans could meet J-D in the semifinals, but first it would have to prevail at no. 3 seed New Hartford Thursday night.
CBA was back in action on Saturday against state Class B no. 11-ranked Westhill, but suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Warriors, who got both of its goals from Ciarra Rudnick.
Right after, the Brothers found out it had the no. 8 seed in Class A, meaning that, if it beat no. 9 seed Indian River on Tuesday, it would get a shot at that top seed, Central Square, in the quarterfinals.
Finishing its regular season 7-7, Bishop Grimes has the no. 11 seed in the Class C sectional playoffs, and would visit no. 6 seed Westmoreland in Tuesday’s opening round.
Manlius-Pebble Hill started its last week of the season with an 8-0 defeat to Fabius-Pompey, the Trojans unable to stop the Falcons’ Anna Osborn, who amassed four goals and two assists.
But the Trojans did close on a strong note with Friday’s 3-1 win over LaFayette, the game tied 1-1 until MPH converted twice in the second half. Natalie Storie, Abby Hinshaw and Mary Smorol had the goals, with an assist going to Katherine Mezzalingua and Anna Vidto.
