Just one victory separates the Westhill girls soccer team from a 14th Section III title.
The undefeated, top-seeded Warriors earned its third consecutive post-season shutout in Tuesday’s sectional Class B semifinal at Fayetteville-Manlius, ending the upstart run of no. 12 seed Holland Patent in a 3-0 decision.
One irony about the Warriors’ sectional run was that, unlike so many years past, it didn’t have to worry about getting past its main rival, Marcellus.
And it was Holland Patent responsible for this secnario. From a no. 12 seed, the Golden Knights stunned the no. 5 seed Mustangs 2-0 in the opening round Oct. 19 and then knocked off no. 4 seed Oneida 1-0 two days later.
HP’s “reward” for this run was running right into Westhill, and the Warriors, while perhaps grateful that the Golden Knights took care of Marcellus, still jumped ahead early.
Within the game’s first 15 minutes, the Warriors led 2-0, thanks to goals by Mackenzie Powers and Morgan Elmer. That was more than enough thanks to a Warriors defense that stifled any attempt HP made to answer.
Meanwhile, on the other end, the Golden Knights did keep things quiet for a while, and Hayden Roberts finished with eight saves, but Lauren Marshall still tacked on a third goal in the second half. Ciarra Rudnick got credit for an assist.
In Friday night’s sectional final at SUNY-Cortland, Westhill meets no. 2 seed Lowville, who had to survive a trio of 1-0 games over Mexico, South Jefferson and Clinton to get to the title game. It kicks off at 6:30.
