Even before the middle of September, the Bishop Grimes girls soccer team was making a deep and indelible mark on the rest of the OHSL Patriot division.
A proof of what the Cobras can do came in last Monday’s home opener, against Cato-Meridian, where it got to double figures and shut out the Blue Devils 10-0.
Improving as the day went on, Grimes led 4-0 at halftime and just kept converting, watching four different players – Jillian Firenze, Katy McInerney, Kennedy Yearby and Carli Buccina – earn two goals apiece.
Lily Rogers and Maria Naylor had the other goals, with Jordan Sloan contributing a pair of assists. Toni Laneve, Julia Freeman and Teresa Shattuck joined Firenze and Yearby in the assist column.
During that same week, though, the Cobras showed its toughness in Friday’s game against Bishop Ludden, where it was pushed to the wire, but still beat the Gaelic Knights 2-1.
Yearby had scored in the first half to put Grimes in front, 1-0. It stayed that way until the midway point of the second half, where Kellie Byrne, taking a pass from Morgan Beamish, poked a shot past Cobras goalie Carli Buccina.
Suddenly, it was a 1-1 game, but just before Ludden could get it to overtime, Laneve put a shot past Kara Beamish with 6:30 to play, and that go-ahead goal held up.
Manlius-Pebble Hill earned its first win of the season last Monday, at the CNY Family Sports Centre on Jones Road, where it pulled out a 2-1 decision over Faith Heritage.
Each sided scored in the first half, but the Trojans broke the 1-1 tie in the second half and held on behind Leandrah Shelmidine’s six saves. Lisa Morocco and Mary Morocco scored MPH’s goals, with Julia Gnade finding the net for the Saints.
On Saturday, MPH lost to Onondaga in yet another 2-1 match. Lisa Morocco scored in the first half, matching the Tigers’ Becky Mack, but then Mack returned in the second half to find the net again, breaking the deadlock and putting OCS ahead for good. Shelmidine had six saves.
In boys soccer, Bishop Grimes fought hard last Monday for a 1-0 overtime victory over Jordan-Elbridge, enduring 80 minutes of regulation and constant pressure from the Eagles.
But Dan Ostaszewski stopped all 14 shots he faced, and that effort was rewarded when, in the first OT period, Clemente Rufo’s shot eluded J-E goalie Max Bondgren and went home for the game-winner.
A day later, the Cobras could not follow up that success, falling 3-1 to reigning Class C champion Fabius-Pompey as the Falcons notched the only goal of the first half and doubled that margin in the game’s latter stages.
Despite Adam Dominic’s second-half goal and nine saves from Jack Rotondo, Grimes could not contain the Falcons all afternoon as the trio of Brad Cleland, Tanner Allen and Gabe Ray each scored once on F-P’s behalf.
Manlius-Pebble Hill, playing that same day, went to Cato-Meridian and won 5-0, steadily chipping away at the Blue Devils’ defenses and building a healthy margin as Gerrit Church and Luke McQueeney each scored twice, with Ini Oguntola getting the other goal. Joey Cerio and Sam Goldman joined Church in the assist column.
In its third game of the week, Grimes tied Tyburn Academy 1-1 on Thursday afternoon. Cameron Marek’s first-half goal had Tyburn in front, 1-0, but Alex Kleb answered in the second half to pull the Cobras even, and it stayed that way through overtime, Rotondo earning four saves.
And MPH closed its week in impressive style, handling Tully 3-1 by putting the ball in the net twice during the first half to counteract Sam Johnson’s goal for the Black Knights.
Pulling away in the late going, the Trojans saw McQueeney pour in a pair of goals, with Church adding one goal and one assist. Oguntola managed an assist, with goalie Ryley Amond stopping six of the seven shots he faced as MPH, like the Grimes girls, remained unbeaten, improving to 4-0 overall.
