When the Section III Class B boys soccer playoff bracket was released, immediate attention was given to the possibility of some epochal match-ups in the quarterfinal round if the seeds held.
Of greatest interest was Marcellus meeting Skaneateles, with the no. 3 seed Mustangs at home, trying to break a skid against the no. 6 seed Lakers that included a 2-1 defeat in this exact same round one year ago.
Again, it was close – but once again, it was Skaneateles finishing on top, getting the only goal it needed in the opening minutes and then riding letter-perfect defense to a 1-0 win.
Given the wild nature of the 3-2 game the Lakers claimed on Sept. 25, it surprised no one that there was an early goal. It only took three minutes, 11 seconds for Tylar Moss to force a turnover in the right corner and cross to the middle, where Owen Cheney’s perfect header sailed past Cory Cangemi.
Skaneateles enjoyed most of the good chances in the first half. Were it not for at least three strong stops from Cangemi (he would finish with 12 saves), the Lakers may have built a much larger margin.
Instead, Skaneateles would have to protect that one-goal lead for more than 76 minutes, but it did so quite well. Defenders Alex Arefyev, Andrew Moss, Will Pinckney and Gavin Cheney constantly forced the Mustangs’ forwards outside and into low-percentage shots.
Though Andrew Neumann finished with eight saves, rarely were the stops difficult ones. But Neumann did make a diving stop on Matt Kershaw’s low shot at the left post early in the second half, and the Mustangs never got as close again.
Both teams dominated their respective opening-round matches, with Marcellus bashing no. 14 seed Adirondack 9-0 and Skaneateles handling no. 11 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 7-0.
The Mustangs had Brett Beal earn four assists and Kershaw two assists as four players – Ryan Lundrigan, Tristan Jarvi, Marcelo Suarez and JoshWilkinson – score two goals apiece. Grady Germain had one goal and one assist, with Dakota Baker adding an assist.
As for the Lakers, it led VVS 3-0 by halftime and kept going as Tylar Moss piled up three goals and two assists. Single goals went to Owen Cheney, Landon Hellwig, Jack Donovan and Ben Clymer, with Arefyev and Andrew Moss getting single assists.
Meanwhile, there was Westhill, the reigning sectional and state champions, lined up as a no. 4 seed to meet no. 5 seed Cazenovia in the quarterfinals – this after the Warriors had ousted the Lakers in each of the previous three sectional title games.
And once again, it was Westhill ending Cazenovia’s season, rallying to edge the Lakers 2-1 in double overtime.
Netting the only goal of the first half, Cazenovia had Joe Spires, in the 17th minute pass to Jake Scherrer, who flung a shot home. Meanwhile, a steady Lakers defense made Westhill work every time it had the ball.
As they moved to the second half it stayed 1-0, but the Warriors stayed patient and pulled even, 1-1, sending this sectional game beyond regulation.
One 15-minute sudden-victory overtime passed without a resolution. And the two sides were inching toward penalty kicks when Bo BenYehuda’s corner kick found its way past several Laker defenders and past goalie Ethan Baker to end it.
Philip Bogan and Will Delano get the goals, while BenYehuda and Jackson Powers earned assists. Ian Prebish finished with four saves.
Westhill had first rolled past no. 13 seed Oneida 5-0 in last Tuesday’s rainy opening round, getting five goals from five different players –BenYehuda, Bogan, Powers, Andrew Centore and Henry Centore. Tom Coman and Chris Schwartz earned assists.
The sectional bracket had opened up in the early rounds when top seed General Brown was stunned by no. 16 seed Holland Patent, the Golden Knights then falling to no. 8 seed Chittenango in the quarterfinals.
So it’s Westhill facing the Bears in Wednesday’s semifinal alongside Skaneateles taking on no. 2 seed Clinton, the two games taking place at Fayetteville-Manlius and the winners advancing to the Nov. 4 title game at Jamesville-DeWitt.
