On a wild and memorable Friday, the Christian Brothers Academy girls soccer team moved ahead in the Section III Class AA playoffs — and saw the path to a possible championship get a whole lot smoother.
CBA, the no. 2 seed, eliminated no. 7 seed Oswego 3-1 at Alibrandi Stadium. On the same night, two other top seeds, Baldwinsville and Liverpool, both got eliminated.
Of course, the Brothers first had to take care of its own contest, one that, in years past, certainly would have been moved elsewhere since CBA didn’t have an artificial turf home field.
But that turf is there now, and the Brothers survived an action-packed first half where Oswego’s Amber Earl scored by unleashing a ferocious attack. In all, CBA took 23 shots, and overcame a superb performance by goalie Leah Folgherait to prevail.
With the Buccaneers bent on stopping Alexis Koval, others stepped forward, including Caitlin McConnell, who had one goal and one assist. Also, Elisabeth Webber and Eva Gordon scored, with Jen Locey adding an assist.
Meanwhile, B’ville, the defending AA champs who beat CBA in last year’s final, saw its title run end in a shocking 1-0 overtime defeat to Auburn. Liverpool fell, too, as West Genesee used two goals late in regulation to eliminate the Warriors 2-1.
This leaves a wide-open battle for the sectional title, as CBA faces West Genesee in one AA semifinal, while Auburn looks for another upset against Fayetteville-Manlius in the other. The winners go to SUNY-Cortland for Saturday’s title game.
The drama spread to CBA’s boys team, who nearly ended Baldwinsville’s two-year title reign in Friday night’s AA quarterfinal before falling in a penalty-kick shoot-out.
Messy conditions at B’ville forced the game to be moved to Corcoran High School’s turf, a big break that CBA exploited by playing a solid first half, keeping the game at 0-0.
Both sides would strike in the second half. Kris Triana scored for the Brothers, off a feed from Sars Bowman, but B’ville countered with Adam Lauko’s goal.
Through the rest of regulation, plus overtime, neither side could break in front, forcing it to a shoot-out, five penalty kicks apiece. David Anderson made saves, as did the Bees’ Andrew Coughlin, but B’ville edged in front, 3-2, at the end, with Hobie Ramin’s goal making the difference. CBA finished its season with a record of 10-5-2.