CORTLAND – Years of work, sacrifice, sweat and dedication had, for the East Syracuse Minoa girls soccer team, all led to this evening, this game, and this particular opponent.
On the other side in Friday night’s Section III Class A championship game at SUNY-Cortland was New Hartford, also undefeated, but carrying the mantle of defending sectional and state champions, the prizes ESM so desperately wanted.
It would all prove elusive, ESM getting in front early, but New Hartford turning things around and, by a 2-1 margin, keeping the title in its possession for another 12 months.
With New Hartford atop the state rankings and ESM at no. 3, it was, by a wide margin, the most anticipated match-up in Central New York this fall, with a vast array of skill on both Spartans sides and a desire to win at each other’s expense.
ESM pushed the early tempo, with Leah Rehm, in particular, forcing New Hartford’s defense to pay full attention to her with at least one, and more often two, defenders.
That opened it up for others, especially Natalie Peterson, and when ESM drew a free kick from 20 yards out in the 16th minute, Peterson drilled it from the left circle to the top right corner of the net.
New Hartford nearly tied it four minutes later, a shot eluding Isabelle Chavoustie and forcing midfielder Ashley Praxl to sprint back and kick the ball off the goal line and out of danger.
Energized by this, New Hartford played with more aggression the rest of the half, rarely letting ESM clear the ball out of its own end and earning set pieces. Yet it could not convert any of them, allowing ESM to take its one-goal advantage to the break.
It didn’t last long, though, as New Hartford’s skill, specifically that of senior forward Anna Rayhill, turned things around.
Willa Pratt’s pass in the 52nd minute sprang Rayhill down the right side with space, and Rayhill put it past Chavoustie to tie it, 1-1, just the second goal ESM had allowed all season.
Now ESM was energized into action, only to find that New Hartford’s defense was more difficult to solve, and it could not generate the same amount of opportunities it did earlier in the game.
Then, with 17:51 left, Rayhill took Amanda Graziano’s pass on the left side, worked around two defenders and then, from an odd angle, slid a low shot that fit inside the right post.
For the first time in more than 1,500 minutes of soccer this fall, ESM found itself trailing. But the more difficult part was that it was facing an opponent that really knew how to protect a lead.
Staying aggressive, New Hartford largely kept the ball on ESM’s side of the field, capably seeing out this game to move its unbeaten streak to 56 in a row dating back to the COVID-19-altered 2020 season.
ESM, meanwhile, now sees Peterson, Isabelle Chavoustie, Angelina Polcaro and Jazzel Meikelham graduate. Still, having Praxl, Leah Rehm, Bailey Rehm and Khloe Welch, plus defenders Leah Chavoustie, Laura Markert and Alina Krdzic, return for 2023 suggests that ESM will still be quite formidable next fall.
