As the culmination of a busy and eventful October in area high school girls soccer, neighbors West Genesee and Marcellus squared off last Saturday afternoon.
And like many local rivalry games, it was decided by a single goal.
When Sarah Petrus, unassisted, put the ball in the net, the Wildcats went out in front, and its defense did the rest, preserving a 1-0 shutout as goalkeeper Zoe Orr stopped each of the Mustangs’ five shots.
That same day, Westhill lost, too, overwhelmed 4-0 by Baldwinsville as Hannah Mimas, with her three-goal hat trick, became the Bees’ all-time leading scorer with 79 career goals, ahead of the mark of 78 set by Emma Firenze.
Before this, both Marcellus and Westhill had plenty of difficulty when they had to face New Hartford. Two weeks after it blanked the Mustangs on Oct. 14, the undefeated Spartans did the same to the Warriors, claiming a 2-0 decision.
During a scoreless first half, Westhill’s defense found itself constantly active, but able to turn away New Hartford’s multiple opportunities.
Eventually, the pressure by the Spartans would pay off as, in the second half, Anna Rayhill and Sydney Mitchell each put in goals, and the New Hartford defense held the Warriors to three shots all night.
Marcellus, who had knocked off Westhill Oct. 21 to break a half decade-long drought against the Warriors, played that same night at Auburn, topping the Maroons in another 2-0 decision.
Just like the Westhill-New Hartford game, both goals came in the second half, the Mustangs having to wait more than 65 minutes before finally breaking through.
With 14:41 left, Sara Mielnicki poured in the first goal, assisted by Emma MacLachlan. Exactly eight minutes later, Marcellus sealed it on another direct kick, this time with Lucy Powell converting off a feed from Hannah Durand.
Prior to that, Auburn goalie Bryn Whitman had done a superb job turning back everything as Whitman finished the night with 16 saves. Mustangs netminder Josephine Leubner stopped all six shots she faced.
In Thursday’s rain, Marcellus got another 2-0 win, this one at Mexico, where goals by Mielnicki and Annalise Bird proved enough as Sam Wynne picked up an assist.
Meanwhile, on Friday Westhill faced Skaneateles, and the Warriors pulled out a 2-1 decision when Mia Herrera put in her second goal of the night with four minutes left in regulation, assisted by Ella Markham.
It was the Lakers getting out in front 1-0 when Maeve McNeil converted just four minutes into the game. That lead held up until Herrera tied it off a feed from Sophia Caron. Skaneateles goalie Bridget Carroll finished with seven saves.
This followed Skaneateles shutting out Bishop Ludden 3-0 the night before. Maddy Ramsgard, Tatumn Pas’cal and Grace Bailey each scored to overcome 28 saves from Gaelic Knights goalie Sarah Boyea.
In the leadup to that game, Ludden had improved to 5-1 on the season with a 3-1 win over Altmar-Parish-Williamstown.
Faith Griffin scoring twice as Alexia Chemotti had one goal and one assist. Sophia Chemotti also had an assist, with Boyea stopping 14 of the 15 shots she faced.
Four days prior to its win over Marcellus, West Genesee was back in action last Tuesday at Fayetteville-Manlius, where the Wildcats lost 3-1 to the Hornets.
Though slightly closer than the 4-1 defeat it took to F-M earlier in the month in Camillus, the game still had WG finding it difficult to contain Hornets forward Lauren Clark.
It was Clark’s pair of goals, combined with a tally from Chloe Hodge, that proved too much to overcome, though Eva Poissant did score for the Wildcats. Combined, Jenna Orr and Cameron Rosenthal had 16 saves.
A 3-0 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse followed on Thursday night, with Orr and Rosenthal making 10 saves between them, but the Northstars still prevailing thanks to McKenna Slate’s two goals and a goal from Ashley Evans.
