Every time they meet in girls soccer, Westhill and Marcellus understand both the short-term and long-term stakes.
In the short run, they just want to get the upper hand in a fierce rivalry that stretches back decades. In the bigger picture, they know that other, more important encounters might lie down the road.
With both sides hungry to return to championship form in 2019, their lone regular-season meeting last Tuesday night carried more importance, and it was the Warriors getting the best of it, needing overtime to defeat the Mustangs 1-0.
This was not a defensive stalemate, despite the score. All through the 80 minutes of regulation, both teams had ample opportunities to get on the board without converting them.
Both defensive units were superb, whether it was blocking shots and passes before they got into too much danger, or having the goalkeepers scoop up everything else. Westhill’s Lauren Bendall stopped all 11 shots she faced, with Marcellus counterpart Ellie Shaw earning 12 saves.
The first of two 10-minute OT periods also went scoreless, but in the second OT the Warriors’ Ciarra Rudnick, off a feed from Erica Gangemi, put the ball past Shaw. That this took place on Sept. 10 was ironic because, exactly 364 days earlier, Rudnick had netted an OT game-winner when the Warriors beat CBA.
Two days after this battle, Marcellus got back in the win column, blanking Phoenix 3-0. A goal in the first half and two more in the second half proved enough as Sarah Hutchings, Macie Szalach and Katie MacLachlan scored, with assists going to Sara Mielnicki and Mei Lamarre.
And Westhill followed up Saturday with an impressive effort at Lowville, shutting out the Red Raiders 3-0. Now it was Gangemi’s turn to strike as her pair of goals complemented one from Rudnick, with Sophia Caron adding an assist.
Yet another close, low-scoring affair in the OHSL Liberty division happened last Wednesday night, only it was Skaneateles involved in that game, and it fell to Cazenovia 1-0 at Hyatt Stadium.
Here, it didn’t require overtime, as Cazenovia inched in front of this Lakers clash by having Annie Baldwin score in the first half. For the rest of the game, Skaneateles attacked hard, yet could not get a shot into the net to ie.
Back on Monday night, Skaneateles shut out Mexico 3-0 at Hyatt Stadium. Up 1-0 at halftime, the Lakers got away as Maeve McNeil scored twice, with Tess Peterson getting the other goal. Assists went to Maddy Ramsgard and Makenzie Miller.
West Genesee had an impressive showing in last Thursday’s game at Liverpool, pulling away in the second half by scoring three times on the way to shutting out the Warriors 4-0.
To lead the Wildcats, Emily Dunning scored twice, with Katrina Tessier earning a pair of assists. Single goals went to Sarah Petrus and Samantha Snyder, Julia Matticio adding an assist as Liz Croft and Caitlin Mills combined to stop all six shots they faced.
Jordan-Elbridge struggled again in a 10-1 defeat to Chittenango last Tuesday as Mollie Yard had the Eagles’ lone goal in the second half. Ally Shoemaker and Sarah Martin both scored three times for the Bears.
Yet J-E turned it around on Thursday to defeat Solvay 2-1, with Avery Yard and Riley Crawford’s goals making the difference. Mollie Yard added an assist as each of Marinn McKennan’s 10 saves proved important. Haley Muehl had Solvay’s lone goal.
Solvay went to Hannibal last Tuesday and blanked the Warriors 4-0, with Haley Muehl dominant for the Bearcats as she netted three of her team’s four goals, the other going to Makayla Smith. Natalie Orr and Olesya Konopatskiy each got one assist.
And after the loss to J-E, Solvay won again on Saturday afternoon, edging LaFayette 3-2 laregly on the strength of Taylor Clisson’s skills as she netted two goals and assisted on the other, by Muehl. Active in the net, Nancy Gonzales made 20 saves.
Bishop Ludden lost, 5-0, to Bishop Grimes last Monday as Jenna Sloan and Maddie Murphy both scored twice for the Cobras. Then it took a 2-1 defeat to Cato-Meridian two days later.
