As the battle for girls soccer supremacy in the OHSL Liberty division resumed between Westhill and Marcellus, count round one to the Warriors.
Buoyed by two goals 60 seconds apart late in the first half, the Warriors topped the visiting Mustangs 3-2 Wednesday night and took first place in the league standings.
In recent timess, the Westhill-Marcellus rivalry has gone beyond league supremacy. Combined, they have won 13 of the last 15 Section III Class B titles, and both schools have lay claim to state championships in that time frame, too.
Naturally, in 2010 they met again in the sectional final and Marcellus prevailed, 3-1. Remembering that, Westhill entered this contest emotionally charged and ready to conquer the Mustangs this time around.
Those plans were delayed when, 5:36 into the game, goalie Sam Peebles was caught out of position, forcing a Westhill defender to tackle Lexy Bird inside the 18-yard box before she could shoot into an open net. Given a penalty kick, the Mustangs’ Kathryn Busa converted.
And the Mustangs kept that 1-0 lead through much of the first half. Both goalie Margaret Choroser and the defenders in front of her – Faith Seeley, Shannon Donahue and Meghan Witkowski – handled the quick Westhill front line and their constant runs into the Mustangs’ end.
All that changed, though, in the 33rd minute. From a Westhill corner kick, the ball bounded to the middle where, from 30 yards out, Grace Powers crushed a shot high and into the top center of the net, beyond Choroser’s reach, to tie it 1-1.
And it didn’t stay tied for long. Exactly one minute later, working from the right corner, Lindsay Lippert lofted a shot to the middle that Maggie Tripodi flicked past Choroser, putting Westhill in front.
Now it was the Warriors’ turn to protect a lead. It did so with sound work from a young set of defenders, which included junior Gretchen Krzykowski, freshman Kelly Lippert and eighth-grader Shelby Stack. Lippert also took care of free kicks whenever they were required.
With 11:20 to play, Westhill doubled its margin to 3-1 when Emily Mizer, denied on a point-blank shot seconds earlier, took a perfectly timed pass from Lindsay Lippert and streaked in alone, easily beating Choroser with a low shot.
Marcellus battled to the end, moving within one with 34.5 seconds left when Jackie Epp’s corner kick glanced off the heel of a defender into the Warriors’ net. And Peebles had to make a scrambling save on one last Mustang charge just before time ran out.
This result only adds to the intrigue of the Westhill-Marcellus rivalry, and the two sides will meet again Oct. 17 on the Mustangs’ home turf during the last week of the regular season.
In the simultaneous boys soccer game played between the two sides Wednesday night, Westhill went to Marcellus and beat the Mustangs 4-2.
The key was a first half where Westhill seized a 2-0 lead. Following that, it matched all of the Mustangs’ charges – namely, goals by Sean Dunn and Keenan Vaughn – to maintain its margin.
Kyle Hunt, Anthony Scaravillo and Conor Powell each had one goal and one assist to aid Westhill’s cause, with Barak BenYehuda earning the other goal. Alex Conway had six saves, two less than Mustang counterpart Eric Degget.
