Working from a no. 3 seed in the Section III Class C playoffs, the Manlius-Pebble Hill endured a pair of tense, low-scoring struggles in the opening rounds, but made it through.
It all started with last Wednesday’s first-round match against against no. 14 seed Cooperstown, who made the Trojans work all 80 minutes to pull out a 1-0 decision over the Hawkeyes.
Gerrit Church’s unassisted goal proved enough for the Trojans, who used consistent pressure to keep the ball out of its own end. Goalie Ryley Amond only had to make two saves for the shutout, while Cooperstown counterpart Kevin Frezle needed to make 10 saves to keep it close.
This led to a Class C quarterfinal Friday against no. 6 seed Thousand Islands, who had ripped Herkimer 7-1 in its opening-round game. And just like with Cooperstown, it was in doubt all the way to the end before MPH, with a clutch goal from Nikolaj Degn, got past the Vikings 2-1.
Marcus Johnson’s first-half goal, assisted by Church, had the Trojans up 1-0 at halftime, but TI pulled even with Ethan Clement’s unassisted goal in the second half, and clamped down on the defensive side, getting nine saves from Noah Ingerson.
But just when it looked like TI would send the game into overtime, Degn got open and, with 31 seconds left in regulation, took a pass from Johnson and fit it past Ingerson for the game-winner.
Now MPH is the highest-remaining seed in the tournament, with no. 1 seed Sauquoit Valley ousted by Hamilton, who will play one semifinal against Watertown IHC Wednesday night at Liverpool High School Stadium.
Meanwhile, on the turf at Chittenango, the Trojans meet OHSL Patriot division rival Fabius-Pompey, who as the no. 10 seed knocked off no. 2 seed Utica-Notre Dame to set up another playoff epic between the Trojans and Falcons.
By contrast, Bishop Grimes, the no. 13 seed, could not make it out of last Wednesday’s opening round, falling to Watertown IHC 4-0.
Try as it could, the Cobras’ defenders could not stop Cavaliers forward Jake Fusilli, who scored twice and added an assist. J.P. McClusky had the other two goals. None of Grimes’ four shots got past IHC goalie Jarred Smith as its season ended with a 6-8-2 record.
