Gaining a Section III Class A championship has turned into an annual rite for the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team, and the boys are now joining in the fun.
Both sets of Red Rams celebrated sectional titles Saturday night at SUNY-Cortland – and both beat Marcellus in their respective title games, with the girls prevailing 2-0 before the boys turned back the Mustangs 2-1.
It’s only the second sectional title for J-D’s boys, to go with the one it earned in 2010, just when the girls dynasty was really taking hold. Now, the girls Red Rams have claimed six consecutive sectional crowns.
That girls Class A final brought together local soccer royalty. J-D, defending its title, was facing a Marcellus side moved up this fall from Class B, where it had won the lion’s share of its record 19 sectional banners.
When they had met in the regular season a month earlier, the Rams had won – by a 2-0 margin, little dreaming that it would repeat that feat when the stakes were a lot higher.
Just 3:22 into the first half, J-D had a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Paige Sherling’s goal, a hard shot that Marcellus goalie Emily Buschbascher had no chance to stop.
Midway through the half, the Rams earned a corner kick, where Erin Brinley hit it to the middle and Caroline Kopp headed the ball over Buschbascher’s head and toward a defender, who played it – but only after the ball had crossed the goal line.
So J-D had a two-goal margin, more than enough for its suffocating defense. Led by Kopp (named the game’s MVP), Chloe Hayward, Julia Slisz and Sophia Dimkopoulos, the Rams took away the danger that the Mustangs’ midfielders, especially Madison Belvito, Jada Sargeant and Bri Sammon, brought with their speed and skill.
According to Kopp, the aim was to take away long passes – which J-D did, turning the rest of the game into a defensive clinic where no more goals were required, and none were needed.
That made it easier for goalkeeper Maddy Frank, who earned the shutout without having to face a shot, and earned her ninth overall sectional title with various teams she has starred on at the high school.
With that championship in the books, J-D fans now looked to see if its boys team could also finish on top of the sectional heap, too.
Like the girls, the boys Red Rams had beaten Marcellus 2-0 in the regular season, on Sept. 23, and from the outset in their title-game rematch, the Rams put on heavy pressure, earning a series of corner kicks and waiting for a breakthrough.
That came in the 21st minute, when on another corner kick Josh Frank headed home Jordan VanStry’s cross. That lead lasted all of two minutes before Marcellus tied it, 1-1, Mike McNaney taking a pass from Victor Stasyuk and flinging a hard shot past J-D goalie David Newman.
Right before halftime, Frank returned to make a lovely pass to the middle, where Jake Socia, in full stride took it and flung it past Marcellus goalie Ian LaFever, giving J-D a lead it would not relinquish.
A large majority of the second half was spent in the Mustangs’ end. Staying patient, J-D earned more than 10 more corner kicks in the half, but could convert none of them, keeping Marcellus in the mix.
The homestretch turned wild when McNaney was booked for a red card with 3:29 to play. Down to 10 men, the Mustangs didn’t quit, ultimately setting up a free kick from 20 yards out in the closing seconds that Nick Matro hit hard – and Newman dove to stop, preserving the win and the sectional title.
J-D’s boys go from here to face Section II champion South Glens Falls in the opening round of the regional playoffs, right after the girls Red Rams play its regional game on Tuesday at Fulton against Section II champion Scotia-Glenville. That girls game will provide a different flavor, since J-D will not be facing long-time regional nemesis Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, who finally was upended in the sectional final 4-2 by Scotia-Glenville.
