In a span of less than 48 hours, the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse-Minoa girls soccer teams both notched big wins over Christian Brothers Academy.
And while the Red Rams’ winning efforts were expected, it was another matter for the Spartans, who went to Alibrandi Stadium last Thursday and battled past the Brothers 2-1 to improve its record to 4-2 this fall.
ESM seized the initiative early, finding gaps in CBA’s defenses and, twice, finding the net in the first half. Julie Steinhauer and Julia Shug both put in goals, while Marissa Greiner got credit for an assist.
During the second half, the Spartans did everything it could to hang on to that two-goal margin. Chloe Germain’s goal cut it in half, but ESM turned back everything else, its defense sound and strong in front of goalie Amanda Goodhines, who recorded six saves.
This led to Saturday’s game, which for 80 minutes went unresolved, but CBA’s superb defense finally broke down in the waning minutes of the second 10-minute OT period, leading to the Red Rams grabbing a 3-0 victory to stay undefeated.
Catherine Burns was, in many ways, the game’s biggest star as the CBA goalkeeper made 14 saves, constantly making the stops every time J-D tried to go in front amid warm, windy conditions.
After one OT period, it was still 0-0. But 1:48 into that second extra frame, Amber Hyatt broke through and beat Burns for the go-ahead goal. Fired up by that, and not taking chances, Hyatt returned to notch another goal less than three minutes later, and Sophia Domkopolous put up another goal before the horn.
J-D had returned to action last Wednesday night, paying a visit to Fulton that amounted to another clinical display from the Red Rams as it roared past the Red Raiders 5-0.
Having gained a 2-0 first-half edge, J-D more than doubled it in the second half and displayed the sort of depth and balance that could scare plenty of future foes.
The Rams’ five goals came from five different players – Hyatt, Alex Catanzarite, Caroline Kopp, Erin Brinely and Riley Foti. Dimkopolous and Alex Epifani picked up single assists, with J-D taking 15 shots to Fulton’s three.
Before all this, ESM had to go through last Tuesday night’s game at Oswego, where strong defense was the centerpiece of a 1-0 victory over the Buccaneers.
Neither team scored in the first half, increasing the tension. But the Spartans kept applying pressure against Oswego goalkeeper Rachael Purtell, who managed to make 16 saves, and finally broke through when Ashley Scalzo got a second-half goal, assisted by Natalie O’Brien.
Having conquered CBA, the Spartans hoped to avoid a letdown Saturday at Cortland, and did so, edging the Purple Tigers 3-2, though it required a comeback.
Talia Cruz, scoring one goal and assisting on the other (by Logan Chase), had Cortland in front, 2-1, going into halftime, but ESM roared back, tying it and going in front behind the work of Greiner.
All that Greiner did was land one goal and assist on the other two – one by Ashley Scalzo, the other by Tatum Kohlbrenner. Julie Steinhauer assisted on Greiner’s scoring play.
