While the Skaneateles girls soccer team was quite happy to work its way out of its first foray into the Section III Class B playoffs and earn a semifinal date with a long-time rival and nemesis, it may have paid a high price for that result.
The no. 4 seed Lakers met no. 5 seed Holland Patent in Thursday night’s Class B quarterfinal at Hyatt Stadium, and Catie Woodruff, who has put on so many big shows this fall, did so again as Skaneateles shut out the Golden Knights 4-0.
With just 10 teams in the sectional Blass B field, the Lakers didn’t have to go through any opening-round match. Thus, by the time it faced HP, it was well-rested and quite ready for the challenge.
Woodruff’s tour de force began just 7;29 into the game, where she found her way around three Golden Knights defenders and fired home the first goal. It went quiet for a while, but in the 30th minute Woodruff made it 2-0, again running around an HP back-line player before converting.
When, with 4:19 left in the first half, Woodruff hit on her third goal to complete a natural hat trick, Skaneateles had a 3-0 lead, but the mood had changed.
That was because, minutes earlier, Tate Green, who had assisted on one of Woodruff’s early goals, went down in front of the Golden Knights’ net. Green had to be helped off the field and then was taken away in a cart, apparently suffering a leg injury.
Short-term, this wasn’t going to affect the outcome, for HP never could mount a consistent attack against a strong Lakers defense, managing just four shots all night, and Woodruff would complete her night’s work with a fourth goal in the 65th minute. Shay McCarthy and Lauren Goochild got credit for assists.
Yet in the long term, Skaneateles knows quite well how Green, as an offensive threat (she has nine goals and eight assists this season) and strong all-around player, takes pressure off Woodruff, and her possible absence may force the Lakers to alter its strategy moving forward.
Looming right ahead of Skaneateles (11-5-1) in the sectional Class B semifinals, is a date with top seed Marcellus (11-1-4) Tuesday night at Nottingham High School. Game times is 5:30.
These two perennial antagonists have met several times in recent years in the playoffs, often with the Mustangs coming out on top, but in their only regular-season encounter this year (on Sept. 15), it ended in a 0-0 draw.
Whoever won here would get Westhill or Lowville in the sectional finals next Friday night at 6:30 at SUNY-Cortland.
