Now the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team arrives at the Section III Class A playoffs with a 14-2 record, bent on making it eight years in a row on top while also having the larger goal of a long-elusive state championship in mind.
But the Red Rams will do so as the no. 2 seed in the sectional Class A bracket. That top seed belongs to East Syracuse Minoa, who claimed a tie-breaker even though both teams finished with 14-2 regular-season marks and J-D won the only head-to-head meeting.
After first-round byes, the Spartans could meet no. 8 seed Christian Brothers Academy in Thursday’s quarterfinal if the Brothers made it past no. 9 seed Watertown Tuesday at Alibrandi Stadium. J-D, meanwhile, will play its quarterfinal Thursday at 3 p.m. against no. 7 seed Central Valley Academy or no. 10 seed Homer.
Before all this, J-D, still occupying the no. 4 spot in the state Class A rankings, met Central Square last Thursday and nearly got to double digits in a 9-0 romp over the Redhawks.
Taking 24 shots overall, J-D enjoyed a 5-0 advantage by halftime, and kept going as Alex Catanzarite, Sophia Dimkopoulos and Lainey Foti each scored twice. Catanzarite and Foti each got assists, as did Sydney Tanner and Alex Epfiani, who joined Angela Bussone and Elena Haarer in earning assists.
ESM, in the course of its 2-1 defeat to J-D on Oct. 8, earned something it never gained in starting 11-1 – namely, respect from outside the area as it joined the Red Rams in the state Class A rankings in the no. 16 spot.
In its first game following the battle with J-D, the Spartans went to Homer and shut out the Trojans 3-0, and Marissa Greiner was the catalyst, putting ESM on the board in the first half with a goal assisted by Lauren Ott.
It was still 1-0 going to the second half when Greiner twice connected with Franchesca Polcaro, first with Greiner assisting on Polcaro’s goal, and then Polcaro turning around to earn the assist when Greiner converted again. Meanwhile, a tough Spartans defense never let the Trojans get on the board, Paige Boniewicz recording six saves.
In Thursday’s game at Fulton, the Spartans kept it rolling with yet another shutout, though it took overtime to get past the Red Raiders 2-0.
Neither side could break through during 80 minutes of regulation nor one 10-minute overtime period. But in the second OT, Greiner twice ran around Fulton’s tight defense and put shots past Red Raiders goalie Maddie Lang, with Polcaro and Anna Markert picking up assists.
Prior to those late goals, Lang had made 22 saves to keep the Red Raiders in the battle. By contrast, ESM didn’t have to defend as much, though Boniewicz’s six saves meant back-to-back shutouts.
Saturday’s regular-season finale pitted ESM against Central Valley Academy, and the Spartans, perhaps knowing a win meant the top sectional playoff seed, topped the Thunder 2-0, with Lauren Ott scoring both goals, one in each half, and Mallory Ott assisting on one of them.
Far from all this, CBA started its last week of the regular season by going to Oswego last Tuesday and recording a 3-0 shutout of the Buccaneers.
Only with a 1-0 lead at halftime, the Brothers got away with guidance from Grace Hulslander, who scored one goal and also earned an assist. Jess Slack and Christina Barnaba had the other goals, with Tate Kohlbrenner joining Hulslander in the assist column.
It proved far different in Friday’s game at Westhill, where CBA took a 6-2 defeat to the state Class B no. 2-ranked Warriors, who build most of that margin by roaring to a 4-1 halftime lead.
Kohlbrenner and Katy Stanard still managed goals, each of them assisted by Hulslander, but the Warriors proved too difficult to contain, especially Erin McMullen, who notched a three-goal hat trick and added a pair of assists as Jayanna Monds added a goal and two assists. Combined, Brothers goalies Catherine Burns and Sydney Benedict managed 14 saves.
