Racing to the regular season’s finish line, girls soccer teams at Cazenovia and Chittenango girls soccer teams squeezed in plenty of games, both in summer-like heat and in conditions closer to winter.
Back when it was still 80-plus degrees, Chittenango, ventured to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown last Tuesday afternoon and broke out early, scoring three times before intermission and going on to beat the Rebels 4-0.
Sarah Martin’s pair of goals gave her 24 for the season, with Emily Moon and Ally Shoemaker also finding the net. Only 28 saves by APW goalie Jocelyn Zender kept it close as Ava Dardaris stopped all 10 shots she faced.
A day later, Chittenango was back home to face Tully, who sat at no. 14 in the state Class C rankings, but this didn’t faze the Bears one bit as it held off the Black Knights and prevailed 3-2.
Even with Tully knowing that it had to contain Martin, she still managed to score twice more, each of them assisted by Moon, to run her season total to 26.
More importantly, Martin assisted on a third goal by Maryanna Garcia that marked the difference between the teams as Tully got goals from Maddy Erno and Jade Dillenbeck.
At 9-1-1 in league play, Chittenango was battling with Westhill atop the OHSL Liberty American division standings. Ironically, the Bears’ chances at a league title hinged on what Cazenovia did against Westhill in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
Before that, though, the Lakers, with a chance to secure a part of all of the OHSL Liberty National division title, had to face state-ranked Marcellus on Thursday night, and were close to forcing overtime before a wild finish led to a frustrating 2-1 defeat.
For 78-plus minutes, neither side could get on the board, despite a rash of opportunities. Then, with 1:45 left in regulation, a free kick by Samantha Wynne found Vetsch, who beat Cazenovia goalie Tessa Hansknecht for the go-ahead tally.
Stunned by this, Cazenovia committed a foul inside the 18-yard box 25 seconds later, with Sarah Hutchings converting the penalty kick. That proved important when Maddy Gavitt scored with 40 seconds left to pull the Lakers within one.
Marcellus held on, though, and now Cazenovia had to try and recover in Saturday’s match with Westhill.
With a league title at stake and the playoffs looming, the Warriors denied Chittenango any piece of that league crown, handling the Lakers 5-1 to finish 10-1-1 in league play ahead of the Bears’ 9-2-1 league mark.
By the time Chloe Boergesson scored in the second half to get Cazenovia on the board, Westhill was well out in front, having built a 3-0 first-half lead. Sophia Caron and Eric Gangemi each scored twice for the Warriors.
Chittenango, meanwhile, took a 3-1 defeat to Christian Brothers Academy, only scoring in the second half after the Brothers grabbed an early 2-0 advantage. The Bears’ regular season concluded with an overall record of 11-4-1.
What it all leads to, of course, is the Section III Class B playoffs.
As the no 8 seed, Cazenovia hosts no. 9 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in Thursday’s opening round, the winner likely to deal with top seed Holland Patent, though the Golden Knights first have to face Mexico or General Brown.
On the other half of the bracket, Chittenango, the no. 7 seed, hosts no. 10 Skaneateles Thursday night at 6 p.m, looking to avenge a 3-1 defeat to those other Lakers earlier this month. The winner could face no. 2 seed Clinton in the quarterfinals if the Warriors get past Oneida or Phoenix.
