With one more victory apiece, the Marcellus and Westhill girls soccer teams will renew their long, exciting and contentious rivalry in the most meaningful way possible – with the Section III Class B championship on the line.
The top-seeded Mustangs and no. 2 seed Warriors advanced in very different manners in Thursday night’s Class B quarterfinals, with Marcellus having to sweat out all 80 minutes to edge no. 9 seed Clinton 1-0 while Westhill, in stark contrast, toyed with no. 10 seed Sherburne-Earlville in a 7-1 romp.
A points system used by Section III pushed Marcellus to that no. 1 seed despite an 11-1-4 regular-season mark that was behind that of Westhill (13-2-1) and state no. 2-ranked Lowville (15-0-1), but that didn’t protect the Mustangs from a tough opening playoff matchup, thanks to those other Warriors from Clinton, who had barely got past South Jefferson 3-2 just to get this far.
As expected, Marcellus controlled the game’s tempo, probing Clinton’s defenses. Yet it couldn’t get anything past Warriors goalie Audrey Gale, who pitched a first-half shutout and then maintained it through much of the second half, too, eventually accumulating 13 saves.
But just when it looked like the game would require 20 minutes of overtime, Marcellus forced one more corner kick and, with 1:46 left in regulation, Keelin Kelly fed it to the middle – and Madi Belvito’s header eluded Gale and found the net.
Relieved at this, Marcellus could now plan for Tuesday’s Class B semifinal at Nottingham High School against another long-time rival, no. 3 seed Skaneateles, who rode Catie Woodruff’s quartet of goals past Holland Patent 4-0 in its quarterfinal, but may have lost another key forward, Tate Green, to a leg injury.
Meanwhile, in the other semifinal Tuesday at Chittenango High School, Westhill would meet Lowville, owner of 14 shutouts this season (including a tough 1-0 sectional quarterfinal victory over Cazenovia),this after the Warriors ripped a Sherburne-Earlville team that edged Hannibal 1-0 in its opening-round game.
For a half, the Marauders kept it close, only trailing 1-0 at the break, but then the Warriors broke through S-E’s defenses with a well-balanced attack that included five different goal-scorers.
Jayanna Monds and Erin McMullen each had a goal and two assists, with Abby Stack finding the net twice. Megan O’Reilly and Morgan Elmer had the other goals , with Ashley Corning also contributing an assist.
Marcellus and Westhill weren’t the only local teams to make it through the sectional quarterfinals. West Genesee did, too, the no. 5 seed Wildcats blanking no. 4 seed Rome Free Academy 3-0 in last Thursday’s Class AA quarterfinal at RFA Stadium.
Since just seven teams made the sectional AA tournament, the top seed, Baldwinsville, had an automatic bye to the semifinals. WG wanted a third chance at a Bees side that beat them twice in the regular season, but it had to travel east to get it.
Less than six minutes into the game, the Wildcats were up 1-0 thanks to Grace Schnoor’s goal. Continuing to attack, WG was frustrated for much of the rest of the half, but then struck a big blow when Schnorr scored again just 11.9 seconds before the break.
Up 2-0, the Wildcats could dictate the terms of the second half, and the combination of a solid defense anchored by goalie Emma Madonna (who stopped all six shots she faced) and Mackenzie Negus hitting on a penalty kick with 16:09 left helped WG advance.
In Tuesday night’s AA semifinal at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium, the Wildcats would take its third shot at B’ville, with the winner to face Liverpool or Fayetteville-Manlius in the sectional finals Saturday at 1 p.m. at Fulton.
Only Bishop Ludden could not make it past Thursday’s sectional action, overwhelmed in the Class C round of 16 as the no. 12 seed Gaelic Knights fell to no. 5 seed Little Falls by a 5-0 margin.
In reality, the first six minutes settled matters, as the Mounties bolted to a 2-0 lead. By halftime, it was 3-0, and Ludden could not answer, Little Falls led by Nicole Failing, who had a goal and three assists, and Kailee Jasewicz, who scored twice. The Gaelic Knights’ season finished with a 7-9-1 record.
