Though it had gone through a fair share of late-season struggles, the West Genesee girls soccer team knew that a great performance during the last week of the regular season could provide a tonic before the Section III Class AA playoffs.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Venturing to Liverpool last Thursday night, the Wildcats avenged an earlier defeat to the Warriors, notching an early goal and, with superb defense, making it hold up to prevail by a 1-0 margin.
WG remembered how Liverpool beat them 3-0 on Sept. 26 in Camillus, the game getting away from them even though it applied all kinds of early pressure. Here, the situation reversed itself, with the Warriors owning most of the chances and the Wildcats counting on a counter-attack.
This strategy began to pay off when Olivia Price took a feed from Emma Parry and slipped a shot past Megan Merrifield during the first half. Liverpool didn’t allow many more opportunities, but now had to try and get even.
Through the rest of the game, the Wildcats defended its own end. Helped by the likes of Catherine Farrell, Grace Walker and Kelly Cooper, WG did pull off that shutout, constantly deflecting shots as goalie Liz Croft only had to make seven saves.
Two nights earlier, the Wildcats got in front of the undefeated, state Class AA no. 9-ranked Bees, but all that seemed to do was propel B’ville to a higher level as it went on to defeat WG by a 4-1 margin.
In their first meeting Sept. 23, WG, at home, only lost by a 1-0 margin, so that provided some confidence for the rematch. Even more was attained when Haley Elsey, taking a pass from Parry, broke through the Bees’ defenses and put it past Mackenzie Hanna to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Had that margin stayed until halftime, WG may have received a boost – but instead, Katie Pascale, with an assist from Addison Hornsey, scored with 3.7 seconds left in the half to tie it, 1-1.
From there the Bees took off, controlling the second half and getting goals from Simone Neivel, Leah Burrer and Graisa Madsen, with Hornsey contributing three assists. All of this overcame 11 saves by Wildcats goalie Liz Croft.
The win over Liverpool salvaged a winning record (9-7) for WG’s 2016 regular season, and now it could focus on springing more surprises in the sectional tournament. As the no. 4 seed, the Wildcats will meet no. 5 seed Fayetteville-Manlius Thursday night at 5 p.m, with a possible clash against top seed Baldwinsville awaiting in the semifinals.
Bishop Ludden still had the no. 8 state Class C ranking despite recent losses to Cicero-North Syracuse and Onondaga, but the Gaelic Knights got a big-time quality win last Tuesday as it shut out Manlius-Pebble Hill 3-0 to close its regular season at 13-2-1.
Emma Driscoll took out the Trojans nearly by herself, pushing Ludden to a 2-0 halftime lead and, by game’s end, earning two goals and one assist on Olivia Boyea’s tally. Meanwhile, the Gaelic Knights’ defense had to work hard all game to preserve the shutout, Kara Beamish finishing with 13 saves.
For the 17-team sectional Class C tournament, Ludden drew the no. 6 seed, meaning that it faces no. 11 seed Dolgeville in the opening round, with the winner going to the quarterfinals, possibly against no. 3 seed and defending champion Sauquoit Valley if the Indians get past Onondaga.
