Bent on reclaiming the Section III Class B title it surrendered to Skaneateles a year ago, the Westhill boys soccer team was 2-0 before the calendar even turned to September.
The Warriors, who lost in the 2014 sectional quarterfinal to Clinton, went north, to Dexter, to start its latest campaign in the General Brown Tournament, and had little trouble earning the first-place trophy, ripping its pair of foes by a combined 10-0 margin.
In the opening round on Friday afternoon, Westhill took on Carthage, and steady play from its attack, plus a stingy defense, led to a 4-0 shutout of the Comets.
Relentless Westhill pressure led to a 2-0 halftime lead and a doubling of that margin in the second half, with Jon Holl earning a pair of goals. Nick Colella and Braeden Elmer also found the net, while Jack Miller and Sabastian Ramirez picked up assists.
A day later, the final pitted the Warriors against host General Brown, but it proved even more lopsided as Westhill tamed the Lions by a 6-0 margin.
Here, the Warriors matched its Carthage output by halftime, and didn’t stop there, seeing Colella pick up the first three-goal hat trick of his varsity career.
Holl, with one goal and one assist, offered the main help, while Ryan Zimmerman and Cameron Rudnick had their first goals of the season. Elmer and Kyle Rey had one assist apiece.
Marcellus, who returns to Class B and the OHSL Liberty division after falling to Jamesville-DeWItt in last year’s sectional Class A final, opened on Saturday afternoon by hosting Fulton, and it proved an exciting contest, but the Mustangs fell to the Red Raiders 3-2.
During a 2-2 first half, Noah LaFever and Doug LaPrease put in goals for Marcellus, but Fulton matched them, and then got the lone goal of the second half. Three different players – Jared Marden, Austin Beckwith and Spencer Vono – scored for the Red Raiders.
Of the area’s girls soccer teams, only Jordan-Elbridge started late last week, and the Eagles took a 3-0 defeat to the Phoenix Firebirds on Friday afternoon.
They were scoreless in the first half, but J-E could only hold off Phoenix for so long, Emilie Hilliard netting two goals in the second half and Brittney Hunter also converting as the Firebirds’ goalies, Erika Brown and Hannah Gilbert, combined for nine saves.
