On their way to a head-to-head encounter Wednesday night, the Marcellus and Westhill girls soccer team had little trouble with other foes.
The Mustangs, in fact, were superb in last Monday’s visit to Skaneateles, dominating its OHSL Liberty division opener and blanking the Lakers 7-0.
In years past, these games would always prove difficult for Marcellus, regardless of how Sknaeateles stood. This time, though, the rivalry tilted sharply in the Mustangs’ favor as it roared to a 3-0 halftime lead and kept pulling away in the late stages.
Molly MacLachlan and Lexy Bird both found the net twice, while Brielle Filtch, Alanna Todd and Ellie Ryan earned one goal apiece. Shannon Donahue managed a pair of assists as Kathryn Busa and Jackie Epp got single assists.
Two nights later, the Mustangs made another road trip, this time to Homer, and while the margin was not the same, Marcellus was just as effective getting past the Trojans in a 4-0 shutout.
A big first half keyed the outcome. Marcellus got three goals there, starting 5:36 into the game when a ball went off a Homer defender into the net, with pressure applied by Epp.
Busa, off a nice feed from Filtch, converted on a hard 20-yard shot in the 30th minute, and Bird added a goal just three minutes later to make it 3-0. Right to the end, Marcellus applied the pressure, and Epp converted off a rebound with 5:11 left to wrap it up.
Stepping out of league play on Saturday, Marcellus got its closest call yet, against Dryden, but still pulled out a 2-1 victory.
Late in the first half, Todd, off a feed from Busa, put Marcellus ahead 1-0, only to have Dryden tie it less than a minute later. Staying cool, the Mustangs reclaimed the lead just 1:06 into the second half when Busa boomed home a 30-yard free kick, and it held on from there.
Westhill visited Solvay Tuesday night and had much the same experience, converting on its opportunities and earning a 5-0 shutout of the Bearcats.
Steadily, the Warriors got away behind Lindsay Lippert’s two goals and one assist. Kelly Ristoff, Brenna Rainone and Maggie Tripodi also scored, while Grace Powers added an assist.
The trend continued Thursday with Westhill’s 9-0 romp of that other Warrior team from Hannibal, a game where the visitors scored six times in the first half.
Lippert gained two goals and two assists, with Ristoff and Grace Powers also putting together two-goal outings. Rainone had a goal and assist as Tripodi and Kathleen Clark joined her with single tallies. Emily Mizer and Kasey Fagan had assists, too.
Other than meeting each other, Marcellus is at home to face Hannibal and Solvay, while Westhill takes on Jordan-Elbridge and Homer.
In alumni news former Mustangs Christa Rockburn and Sophie Jackson would help Onondaga Community College’s women’s soccer team beat no. 10-ranked Herkimer CC 3-0. Rockburn had one goal and one assist and Jackson, playing the second half in goal, stopped all six shots she faced.
