Seeing the struggles of Jamesville-DeWitt against top-flight opposition, the East Syracuse Minoa girls soccer team had to pick up a glimmer of hope for reaching its own long-term aims this fall.
Further help came from last Tuesday’s game at Oswego, where the Spartans were pushed to overtime, but still beat the Buccaneers 4-2.
They were scoreless until the second half, when Maggie Archer and Claudia Chetney both scored for Oswego, but ESM also found the net twice. In the first of the two 10-minute overtime periods, the Spartans took the lead for good with a pair of scoring plays.
Through it all, Lauren Ott and Franchesca Polcaro led the way, both of them finishing with two goals. Marissa Greiner had two assists, while Olivia McEachron had the other assist. Riley Abbot had five saves as Bucs goalie Sarah Smolinski had to make 13 saves to keep it close.
Going to Auburn on Thursday night, ESM again found itself in an exciting, back-and-forth contest, going in front early and hanging on for a 5-4 victory over the Maroons.
As it turned out, ESM needed the cushion it got when it took a 3-1 lead into halftime. Auburn got goals from four different players (Lexi Colella, Caitlin Loving, Mia Picciano and Marguerite Cuddy) and nearly caught up.
To hang on, the Spartans needed a big day from Polcaro, who scored twice and added a pair of assists. Ott also had two goals as Greiner earned one goal and one assist. Maria Market produced an assist.
Back on Sept. 2, Manlius-Pebble Hill had a successful season opener, fighting to a 2-1 victory over the Onondaga Tigers.
The Trojans controlled most of the possession, and only Jessika Southard’s 11 saves kept OCS close. To prevail, MPH needed Lisa Morocco to earn one goal and assist on the other, by Manal El-Hindi, while the defense held the Tigers to just three shots all afternoon.
Things turned around, though, when MPH met Tully last Wednesday night. The Trojans lost, 5-1, unable to overcome the Black Knights’ 3-0 first-half surge and unable to stop Lexi Hamilton, who led Tully with four goals. Only Rachel Comfort’s second-half tally prevented a shutout as MPH goalie Sarah Smith had six saves.
Playing Fabius-Pompey on Friday night, the Trojans were quite impressive, shutting out the Falcons 4-0. Two goals in each half proved more than enough as Taylor Germain found the net twice, with Morocco adding two assists. Rachel Comfort and Bianca Melendez Martineau also scored as the Trojans out-shot F-P by a 19-2 margin.
On that same day, Christian Brothers Academy dropped its season opener, though it was a tough test as reigning Section III Class B champion Marcellus pulled away late to defeat the Brothers 4-0.
Throughout the game, CBA, now under the direction of head coach Dan Scott, would get chances against the Mustangs’ defense, only to see all 12 of its shots stopped by goalie Grace Coon.
Meanwhile, Catherine Burns had nine saves for the Brothers, but saw a 1-0 halftime deficit grow in the latter stages as Taylor Reich (two goals) and Anna Vetsch (one goal, one assist) led the Marcellus charge.
Back at Alibrandi Stadium on Thursday night, CBA pulled out a 3-3 draw with Skaneateles in a game where one surge was matched by another, the two sides tied 2-2 at halftime and again at the end of regulation, with neither side able to decide it in 20 minutes of overtime.
The Brothers’ three goals came from three different players – Sam McKenna, Grace Hulslander and Jess Slack. Olivia Morganti added an assist as Burns got 14 saves, but surrendered goals to the Skaneateles trio of Raenah Campbell, Riley Brogan and Grace Buchholz.
Bishop Grimes absorbed a 1-0 defeat to McGraw on Sept. 2, a game where neither side got on the board until the Eagles’ Taylor Conklin netted a second-half goal, assisted by Bryanna Cook.
Marissa Curtis stopped everything else as the Cobras goalie made seven saves, but none of Grimes’ six shots made it past McGraw netminder Rachel Todd.
It wouldn’t get easier for Grimes as it took on Bishop Ludden last Tuesday afternoon, and the Cobras were unable to get on the board in this game, too, falling 2-0 to the Gaelic Knights.
During the first half, Ludden’s Emma Driscoll scored twice, one of those goals assisted by Hannah Roesch. That it didn’t turn more lopsided was entirely a tribute to Curtis, who made an astonishing 24 saves, but didn’t get much relief from the pressure put on her by the Gaelic Knights.
At Tully on Saturday, the Cobras hoped to do better than MPH did on Wednesday, and it was close – but Grimes lost, 1-0, the only goal coming in the second half when Alexi Hamilton converted for the Black Knights. Otherwise, Curtis stopped everything she faced, earning 13 saves.
