Just as in 2015, the Christian Brothers Academy girls soccer team found itself holding the no. 8 seed for the Section III Class A playoffs, and once again it survived the opening round, only to go up against a close neighbor in the quarterfinals.
Only this time, it wasn’t Jamesville-DeWitt holding the top seed, but rather East Syracuse Minoa, who got that no. 1 seed due to a points tie-breaker even though the Spartans and Red Rams both finished 14-2 in the regular season and J-D won the head-to-head meeting, 2-1, on Oct. 8.
Together, the Spartans and Brothers engaged in a long, tense and emotional battle Thursday night that spilled through four overtime periods before ESM, narrowly avoiding the tense spectacle of penalty kicks, netted the game-winner to emerge with a 2-1 victory.
Having possessed such a potent offense throughout its 14-2 regular season, the Spartans found itself shut down during the first half, and concern turned into worry when Amanda Winn, unassisted, scored to put the Brothers in front, 1-0, where it stood at halftime.
Still trailing midway through the second half, ESM caught the break it needed when CBA goalie Catherine Burns couldn’t corral a loose ball in front of her net, and Mallory Ott pounded in the rebound, eventually sending the game into overtime.
During the required two 10-minute extra periods, neither side broke. The first of two five-minute sudden-victory periods was quiet, too, but with penalty kicks looming, ESM doubled up its pressure to force a corner kick.
Lauren Ott took the tick, and the ball floated to the middle, where Franchesca Polcaro was perfectly positioned to deliver the ball past Burns and inch the Spartans a step closer to a first sectional title since 1997. ESM faces no. 4 seed Fulton (who beat Whitesboro 1-0) in its sectional semifinal, having topped the Red Raiders 2-0 when they met Oct. 13.
J-D, of course, has won the last seven sectional titles, and wanted no part of the kind of tension ESM had to face against CBA, so it went out in last Thursday’s sectional quarterfinal and drilled no. 10 seed Homer 7-0.
The Trojans were a tired team, having required a large comeback and penalty kicks to survive its first-round match against Central Valley Academy two days earlier. Knowing this, the well-rested Red Rams ran right through Homer’s defenses, eventually causing a breakdown that turned a 2-0 halftime edge into a romp.
Again, Alex Catanzarite was at the forefront, earning three assists to go with her pair of goals. Alex Epifani also scored twice, adding an assist, while Sophia Dimkopoulos, Lainey Foti and Tonia Kousmanidis had one goal apiece.
In its sectional Class A semifinal, J-D will face no. 3 seed New Hartford, who dismissed Carthage 4-0 in its quarterfinal match. The Rams beat these Spartans in the 2015 sectional final and also won a 3-1 decision over New Hartford on Aug. 29.
Before all this, CBA first had to get past no. 9 seed Watertown in last Tuesday night’s opening-round game at Alibrandi Stadium, and the Brothers were mere minutes from elimination before a stunning surge late in regulation led to overtime, where the surge continued until CBA had beat the Cyclones 4-2.
During the first half, Watertown had all kinds of opportunities, but only put one shot past Catherine Burns, who would finish the night with 20 saves, hoping that her teammates would respond as the Brothers trailed 1-0 at the break thanks to Akasha Gaige’s goal.
It would get worse in the second half when the Cyclones’ Jill Giradi made it 2-0, but CBA caught a break when Watertown goalie Kayla Meyer, who had 11 saves, went to the bench with in an injury. Taking full advantage, the Brothers tied it in the last six minutes as Jess Slack and Olivia Morganti both scored.
Having gained all of the momentum, the Brothers kept pressuring in overtime until Amanda Winn netted the go-ahead goal. Since 20 minutes of OT had to get played, the Brothers didn’t sit back, and clinched it when Maria Saya put in her first goal of the season.
CBA would get into overtime again at ESM, but would not survive it.
