With so much history between them, the Marcellus and Westhill girls soccer teams again clashed for high stakes Friday night at SUNY-Cortland with the Section III Class B championship on the line.
And just like the four previous times they’ve gathered in a sectional semifinal or final, the Mustangs came out on top, edging the Warriors 1-0 with its defense as the focal point from start to finish.
“We battled for this one,” said Marcellus head coach Laurie Updike. “We knew we had to play our best game.”
Nothing less was required against a Westhill side desperate to reverse recent history. In the 2010 and 2013 sectional finals, along with semifinals in 2011 and 2012, the Warriors had seen its championship dreams dashed at the Mustangs’ expense.
After Marcellus spent a one-year interlude in Class A (and lost the 2014 sectional final to Jamesville-DeWitt) and the Warriors took the sectional Class B crown and advanced to the state final four, the Mustangs returned to the B ranks this fall, playing Westhill to a 0-0 draw in their lone regular-season encounter early in September.
What the Mustangs learned in that game was that, in order to contain Westhill’s deep group of scoring threats, it had to win a majority of the 50-50 battles for possession.
To help that cause, Marcellus started its leading goal-scorer, Madi Belvito, on the back line. Belvito combined with Keelin Kelly, Alana Montreal and Maddy LoCastro and took turns watching the likes of Jayanna Monds, Katelyn Karleski, Megan O’Reilly and Erin McMullen, and their efforts bottled up Westhill throughout the night.
Still, during a scoreless first half, Marcellus found it just as tough to find any space, with Shelby Stack and Westhill’s back line taking away any close opportunities.
At this rate, either a great play, or a good break, would make the difference. Both things happened at the same time 4:02 into the second half.
Marcellus forced a free kick from 30 yards out on the right side. Kelly took it, and drove it toward a Westhill defender, whose deflection caught Warriors goalie Ariana Henneberry out of position as the ball crashed into the net.
Though more than 35 minutes remained, that was the lone goal of the night. Marcellus, with its defensive shield, maintained that margin as key stops were made by Emily Buschbascher in the first half and Meg Blystone in the second half.
Marcellus didn’t have much time to celebrate, because on Tuesday it will face Section II champion Schalmont, the state’s top-ranked team, in the Class B regional opener. The Mustangs need two regional wins to return to the Cortland-Homer area on Nov. 14-15 for the state final four.
