Big dreams remain unfulfilled for the 2015 edition of the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team, from a seventh consecutive Section III Class A title to that long-elusive state championship.
But the state no. 2-ranked Red Rams can boast of playing all 16 of its regular-season games and not suffering a single blemish, capped last week by impressive victories over two of its closest neighbors.
It all started with last Wednesday’s visit from Christian Brothers Academy, a Senior Day celebration that only grew happier after the Red Rams put together a near-flawless performance and defeated the Brothers 6-0.
They had first played Sept. 12 at Alibrandi Stadium, and J-D only won that game 2-0, getting both of its goals late in regulation. Here, the Rams were in no mood to make things that interesting.
Despite some early CBA pushes, J-D started to unleash its attack near the midway point of the first half. In the 18th minute, with Alex Catanzarite drawing two defenders, she passed to Alex Epifani, who charged through those defenders and fit a shot just inside the right post.
Less than seven minutes later, the margin doubled to 2-0 in a strange manner. Epifani, from the left corner, crossed to the middle, where Ali Durkin pushed a shot that slipped through the hands of Brothers goalie Catherine Burns and past the goal line.
They were still 2-0 at halftime, when the six seniors were honored – Paige Sherling, Allie Balotin, Ciara Norris, Alex Fontana, Chloe Hayward and Julia Fairbanks, who got the start in goal before Julia Cappelletti took over.
Then, less than 90 seconds into the second half, Epifani hit on her second goal, assisted by Catanzarite, who returned four minutes later to net her first goal of the afternoon on a hard shot from the right side that found the top-left corner of the net.
Midway through the second half, Catanzarite converted again, and then the starters exited, giving Hayley Quackenbush a chance to net a goal with 11:54 to play. All of the seniors got one more turn on the field in the game’s final minutes.
Following this, J-D simply needed to defeat Fayetteville-Manlius Saturday afternoon to complete its undefeated season. And F-M was coming off a 2-1 loss to Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday night where it could not overcome a two-goal halftime deficit, despite Gianna LaRocca’s late tally. Morgan Siechen had both of the Northstars’ goals.
This last hurdle, on a chilly day, proved difficult, but J-D cleared it, beating the Hornets 3-2 in a contest that started out quite lopsided, the Rams bolting to a 3-0 first-half lead thanks to goals from Catanzarite, Fontana and Sophie Dimkopoulos.
Yet it almost wasn’t enough. F-M fought back hard in the second half, seeing Jamison Seabury and Ashley Carter put shots in the net and Cassie Hemmer earn an assist as goalie Sabrina Suriani worked her total to 12 saves. It nearly proved enough, but J-D held on, and the Hornets’ record fell to 9-7.
J-D and CBA might not be done with each other. As the top seed in a full 16-team sectional Class A bracket, the Red Rams have to get through no. 16 seed Carthage on Tuesday, but if it does so, and no. 8 seed CBA tops no. 9 seed Whitesboro, the Rams and Brothers would gather again in the quarterfinals.
Up in Class AA, just seven teams qualified for the sectional tournament, and F-M held the no. 3 seed. On Wednesday night, the Hornets host no. 6 seed Utica Proctor, with the winner likely going to a semifinal against no. 2 seed and defending champion Liverpool, who plays no. 7 seed Syracuse on Thursday night.
