Still sitting at no. 4 in the state Class A rankings, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer team had not run into any kind of difficulty against its foes while running its win streak to eight games.
All of that changed, though, in last Friday’s game at Fulton. Against an opponent it had dominated for years, the Red Rams could not put anything in the net, and paid for it with a 1-0 defeat to the Red Raiders.
Fulton had not played much in September, yet carried a 3-1-1 record into the game. As expected, J-D had most of the good opportunities, but the Red Raiders’ defense turned them all back, Maddie Lang recording eight saves in the net.
By contrast, J-D didn’t have to defend that much, but in one of Fulton’s rare attacks, Jordan Coulon, taking a pass from Hailey Carroll, ripped a shot past Katie Cappelletti, a goal that held up the rest of the way.
None of this was indicated in last Monday’s trip to state no. 14-ranked Cortland, where the Rams expected a challenge, but rolled past the Purple Tigers 3-0, all of the goals coming in the first half as Lainey Foti, with one goal and one assist, led the charge.
Ava Brazie and Grace Thomas also found the net as Hayley Quackenbush and Sydney Tanner also picked up assists. Cortland had plenty of chances throughout the night, but Cappelletti made 11 saves.
East Syracuse Minoa, frustrated in an overtime defeat to West Genesee on Sept. 16, unloaded on Syracuse two nights later in a 10-1 romp. It was 6-0 by halftime, and the Spartans’ attack featured a three-goal hat trick from Mallory Ott.
Not far behind, Franchesca Polcaro and Abby Hudgins each scored twice, with Lauren Ott earning a goal and two assists. Anna Markert and Gianna Coccagnia also earned goals as Jessica Griffith contributed an assist.
On Thursday night, ESM made it back-to-back wins, holding off Oswego 2-1. Polcaro put the Spartans on the board in the 18th minute and, nine minutes later, assisted on Bella Pickard’s goal to produce a 2-0 halftime lead.
Battling back, the Buccaneers got a second-half goal from Lara Knabur, but could not pull even as Lauren Ott, returning to her duties in goal, finished with eight saves.
Christian Brothers Academy earned a tough 2-1 victory over Mexico last Monday afternoon, finding itself challenged from the outset when the Tigers’ Ashton Ariola scored, assisted by Katie Belcher, to offset Grace Hulslander’s goal for the Brothers.
Catherine Burns allowed nothing more, finishing with 11 saves, a total that Mexico goalie Melissa Murray also achieved, but she couldn’t quite get the game past regulation as Katy Stanard’s goal in the 54th minute put CBA ahead to stay.
Back home Wednesday night, CBA defeated Phoenix 4-1, breaking in front 2-0 by halftime and breezing from there as Mari Saya emerged as an offensive threat, scoring twice to complement single goals from Tate Kohlbrenner and Jiselle Cabezas. Meghan McKeen finished with an assist.
In last Monday’s local showdown between Manlius-Pebble Hill and Bishop Grimes, it was all Trojans in a 5-0 decision, and much of that could get credited to Melendez-Martineau, who spearheaded the MPH attack.
All that Melendez-Martineau did was put in four of the Trojans’ five goals. Rachel Comfort had the other goal, with assists credited to Maddie Mafrici, Ren Brown and Taylor Germaine as goalie Liza Bruno kept Grimes off the board, recording 12 saves. Cobras netminder Caroline Wilkinson had 13 saves.
From there, Grimes returned Thursday and lost, 3-1, to Tully. Even with Katherine Murphy’s first-half goal assisted by Maria Naylor, the Cobras trailed, 2-1, at halftime, and were blanked the rest of the way. Alexi Hamilton (two goals, one assist) and Jessica Donald (one goal, two assists) carried the Black Knights’ attack.
