Just past the midway point of the first half in Tuesday night’s girls soccer Section III Class B semifinal at Nottingham High School, Skaneateles forward Raenah Campbell bore down on Westhill goalkeeper Bella Lavigne.
At the time, the no. 4 seed Lakers trailed the top-seeded, state no. 2-ranked Warriors by a goal, but had not really buckled. If Campbell could convert here and pull Skaneateles even, the course of the evening may change.
Lavigne, timing her challenge just right, pounced on the ball just inside the 18-yard box and saved it before Campbell could poke it past her into the unoccupied net.
A few minutes later, the Warriors doubled the margin to two, and the Lakers never recovered, taking a 5-0 defeat that ended a 13-5-1 campaign, quite a good job by a squad that had just a handful of seniors on the roster.
No one needed to tell Skaneateles about Westhill’s quality. When the two sides met late in September, the Lakers had lost, 4-0, to the Warriors, whose athleticism and skill is a major problem for any opponent.
Add it an aggressive approach, and the Lakers found itself in a defensive mode right away, turning away many chances, but surrendering a goal in the 12th minute when Katelyn Karleski’s touch free kick was fit inside the left post by Erin McMullen.
Skaneateles had to count on clearing the ball out of its own end and, perhaps, having someone like Campbell take advantage. She nearly did so, but Lavigne’s aggressive play instead sparked the Warriors on the other end.
McMullen, off a free kick, converted again in the 24th minute. Before Skaneateles could regroup, Westhill had the ball in the Lakers’ end again, and Jayanna Monds sent a low shot past a sliding Sophie Kush in the 34th minute to put the margin to 3-0.
That’s where it stood at halftime, but Westhill wasn’t content. Monds would strike for a second goal on a long run near the midway point of the second half and, 30 seconds later, Megan O’Reilly scored. Abby Stack and Morgan Elmer each got credit for assists, along with Karleski.
While Westhill moves on to face Clinton in Friday’s sectional final at SUNY-Cortland, Skaneateles could look ahead to an exciting 2017.
Campbell would depart, but most of the other starters, including Kush, Maddie Peterson, Tess Peterson, Olivia Navaroli, Shay McCarthy, Ryley Pascal, Claire Raddent, Abbey Logan, Bella Reese and Sarah Bailey, are expected to return for 2017.
