With the big 1-0 overtime win it earned over Marcellus on Sept. 10 in the books, the Westhill girls soccer team looked forward to more challenges from familiar league rivals.
Cazenovia hosted Westhill last Friday night at the Sean Googin Sports Complex, and this one did not prove close as the state Class B no. 12-ranked Warriors unloaded on the Lakers’ defense and did not let up until it had earned a 6-1 victory.
Attacking from the outset, the Warriors twice were awarded penalty kicks that Sophia Caron converted. with Caron adding a third goal in the late stages to complete her hat trick.
Erica Gangemi scored twice for the Warriors, with Emma Gorman earning the other goal. Ashley Bolesh and Ciarra Rudnick had one assist apiece.
Prior to this, the Warriors traveled to Mexico last Tuesday and, scoring twice in each half, blanked the Tigers 4-0. All of the offense came from Gangemi and Rudnick, who notched two goals apiece as Lauren Bendall stopped all eight shots she faced.
A week removed from the defeat to Westhill, Marcellus, who were no. 10 in the first state rankings of the season, two spots ahead of the Warriors despite losing to them, handled Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 6-0, with Lily Locastro leading the way as she got a three-goal hat trick, the other goals going to Sara Mielnicki, Macie Szalach and Sarah Hutchings.
Two days later, the Mustangs had its own match with Mexico and beat the Tigers by the same 4-0 margin that Westhill did. Here, it was LaMarre scoring twice, while Sarah Fallon had one goal and one assist. Katie MacLachlan also got an assist.
Skaneateles took another close defeat in last Monday’s non-league game against Liverpool, falling 2-1 to that other group of Warriors.
Ultimately, the Lakers paid for a first half where it did not get on the board. Down 1-0 at the break, Skaneateles did convert on Maeve McNeil’s goal in the second half, but Liverpool answered as Jailyn Parrotte and Caroline Stevens had the Warriors’ tallies.
Undefeated (6-0) Chittenango visited two nights later, the Bears coming off an overtime win over CBA and still with games against Westhill and Marcellus ahead in the following week.
And while the Lakers put up a fine effort, it still lost, 3-1, to Chittenango, the game scoreless throughout the first half as Skaneateles had all kinds of opportunities, yet could not put one past Bears goalie Cassidy Kelly.
Overall, Kelly had 16 saves, and while McNeil did score in the second half, Chittenango countered by finding the net three times – two by Sarah Martin, one by Madison Wagner.
Up in the large-school ranks, West Genesee had an impressive showing in last Tuesday’s game against visiting Cicero-North Syracuse, leading from the outset and pounding the Northstars 4-1 to improve to 3-2-1 overall.
Leading the way, Sarah Petrus had two goals, with Giovanna Vigliotti earning one goal and one assist. Chrissy Van Allen also earned a goal as Caitlin Mills and Liz Croft combined for four saves.
Now WG challenged defending sectional Class AA champion Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday afternoon, and nearly pushed the game to overtime, only to have a goal late in regulation help the Hornets edge the Wildcats 2-1.
Solvay lost a 2-1 decision to Homer last Tuesday night. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Bearcats got on the board with Taylor Clisson’s goal, only to get matched as the Trojans held on, overcoming 10 saves by Solvay goalie Nancy Gonzales. The Bearcats’ match with Skaneateles, scheduled for last Saturday, was postponed.
Bishop Ludden absorbed a 4-0 defeat to West Canada Valley last Tuesday afternoon, with Lydia Reimer scoring twice for the Indians as Taylor Wright and Madi Szczesniak had the other goals.
