The West Genesee girls soccer team has stayed in touch with all of the other Class AA contenders this fall, yet still met with frustration last Tuesday as it took a 1-0 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius.
From a defensive standpoint, the Wildcats responded well to an early goal by the Hornets’ Ashley Carter, blanking F-M the rest of the way. This time, Liz Croft didn’t share goalie duties and produced six saves.
But WG found it difficult to generate any kind of chances, held to one direct shot all night. That had to change if the Wildcats wanted to win a day later in the makeup of a match with Cicero-North Syracuse postponed by weather on Oct. 2.
Again, the game was close but, again, WG lost, 2-1, in overtime, the game scoreless until the second half, when Jackie Vigliotti’s goal, assisted by Shannon Foster, got the Wildcats on the board.
C-NS answered it, though, and also converted in the first OT period as Ashlyn Slate assisted on goals by Marissa Bukowski and Jenna Imbesi, which overcame the nine total saves from Croft and Caitlin Mills.
On Saturday, WG faced East Syracuse Minoa, from the Class A ranks, and it ended in a 0-0 draw, with 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime not settling things. The Wildcats had most of the chances, but Spartans goalie Isabelle Chavoustie made 11 saves.
Only five teams qualified for the Section III Class AA playoffs. As the no. 3 seed, WG goes straight to a semifinal against F-M, the no. 2 seed, early next week, so there’s an immediate chance to get even with the Hornets when it counts most.
Bishop Ludden took a 1-0 defeat last Tuesday to Cato-Meridian, yet another instance where one side had most of the chances, but the other prevailed.
The Gaelic Knights took 10 shots, all stopped by Blue Devils goalie Meghan McCarthy. Meanwhile, Cato was quiet most of the way, but in the second half won it on Ella Power’s goal, assisted by Chelsea Dennison.
Yet another 1-0 defeat happened on Saturday, Ludden this time falling to Tully as Maddy Erno’s goal in the second half capped an all-out barrage on the Gaelic Knights where only the 15 saves of Sarah Boyea kept it close.
Jordan-Elbridge took an 8-0 defeat to Christian Brothers Academy last Tuesday night, the Brothers scoring seven times in the first half as Mari Saya and Bella Roberson each had two goals, Saya adding two assists. A 6-0 loss to Homer followed, J-E seeing the Trojans get six goals from six different players.
Neither J-E nor Ludden were able to make it to the sectional playoffs.
