Whether it was narrow or decisive, the fact remains the same. Marcellus and Westhill will meet Friday night for the Section III Class B girls soccer championship – just as they have done so many times before.
In Tuesday night’s Class B semifinal at West Genesee, the no. 2 seed Mustangs used a pair of goals late in regulation to beat no. 11 seed Skaneateles 3-0, the third time it had beaten the Lakers this season. Over at Chittenango’s turf, the no. 9 seed Warriors fought past no. 13 seed Mount Markham 1-0 in the other Class B semifinal.
This means a third clash in 2010 between Marcellus and Westhill, to be played Friday night at 7 p.m. at SUNY-Cortland. Marcellus (17-1) beat Westhill (11-8) both of the previous times, by a 2-1 margin on Sept. 23 and a 2-0 margin on Oct. 20.
Five times since 1997, Marcellus and Westhill have played with a sectional title on the line, most recently in 2008, where they ended up co-champions and the Warriors advanced to the state tournament in a penalty-kick shoot-out.
Already the Mustangs know the drill of trying to defeat someone three times in the same year, for it had to repeat its earlier triumphs against Skaneateles. Those earlier games, won by scores of 2-1 and 3-1, indicated that the Lakers could prove dangerous if allowed to hang around.
And for much of the game, that’s exactly what happened. Despite sporadic attacks from Skaneateles, Marcellus could not fully unwind its vaunted possession game, getting only occasional shots from its usually busy attackers.
One big exception came in the 22nd minute, when Kathryn Busa broke free on the right side and took a direct shot that slipped out of the hands of Skaneateles goalie Mary Buck and slid across the goal line, the only tally of the first half.
Deep into the second half, it remained 1-0, the Lakers playing on even terms but finding that the Mustangs’ back line, led by Jessie Manahan, Annie Dailey and Emily Pawliewicz, was difficult to solve, and that goalie Sophie Jackson could handle her chances.
Finally, Jessie Nye created some breathing space when, with 12:49 left, she put the Mustangs up 2-0 with a straight shot that eluded Buck. Just four minutes later, Jackie Epp, from nearly the same spot on the field, put in the night’s final goal.
As this was going on, Westhill, who had rallied in the final minutes to stun top seed Watertown IHC 2-1 in the Class B quarterfinals on Oct. 28, would have just as difficult a time getting rid of Mount Markham.
They played through the first half 0-0. Unlike the IHC game, the Warriors had most of the scoring chances, but kept putting shots into the hands of Mount Markham goalie Tori Roberts, who would finish with 14 saves.
Westhill maintained the pressure, and its patience – and it paid off in the second half. Off a feed from Bethany Hemmes, Kelly Ristoff, whose hit the decisive goal against IHC, beat Roberts to get the game-winner once more.
