A top seed in a post-season tournament guarantees only that the team which holds that honor will get severe challenges from anyone wanting to knock the favorites from its perch.
East Syracuse Minoa, the no. 1 seed in the field hockey Section III Class B playoffs, was quite aware of this dynamic even before it entered post-season play – and if it wasn’t, what happened to Fayetteville-Manlius in a similar situation would prove instructive.
Even with its 12-1-1 record and Salt City Athletic Conference regular-season title, the Hornets were unable to get out of last Monday’s sectional semifinals, beaten 1-0 by no. 4 seed Baldwinsville.
The Bees were 8-9 going into the game, but that record did not reflect the circumstance that made this game dangerous for F-M, starting with the mere fact that the game was at B’ville’s Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Also, the Bees had played a first-round sectional game on Oct. 23, defeating Auburn 5-1, while F-M was off for nearly two weeks.
Plus, both regular-season games between these sides were close, the Hornets prevailing by 1-0 and 2-1 margins, so B’ville knew that it could compete with F-M.
The Bees were able to have a fair amount of scoring chances during the first half as F-M struggled to get on track. One of those paid off when, just past the midway point of the half, a penalty corner saw Leah Tuch pass it to Emma Brushingham, and the senior backhanded a shot past Hornets goalie Claire Grenis.
That one-goal margin held until halftime, but once intermission was over F-M began an all-out attack to try and get even.
Pinned in its own end, the Bees had to surrender 11 penalty corners. It took every bit of effort from the Bees’ defense to withstand all of these chances and, when it was needed, goalie Sarah Smiley was strong, too, officially credited with four saves, but also steering other shots just wide of the target, all the way to the final horn.
ESM, meanwhile, would have to travel to Central Valley Academy to take part in its Class B sectional semifinal against no. 4 seed Whitesboro, but easily handled the assignment, prevailing 4-0 for the Warriors.
This match featured perhaps the quickest scoring burst in sectional playoff history.
Already, the Spartans had a 1-0 lead thanks to Maggie Saunders’ goal 7:05 into the first half, and were ably protecting that lead when, with less than three minutes left in the half, Rileigh White converted on a penalty corner off a feed from Mary Searle.
Right after, ESM had gained possession again and, on a breakaway, Grace Stone’s hard shot found the net a mere seven seconds following White’s tally. What was a close contest was suddenly 3-0, and Whitesboro never recovered.
A last-minute goal by Searle helped seal ESM’s berth in the final Sunday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill against defending champion Holland Patent, a rematch of the 2018 title game won by the Golden Knights 3-1.
HP had allowed just one goal all season on its way to a 14-0-1 record, and here it would hold the Spartans without a shot and, with a three-goal outburst in a span of less than 10 minutes, claim the sectional title again, eventually prevailing 4-0.
Through the first 16 minutes, ESM’s defense, led by Anna James, Jill McGinley and Abby Herrington, withstood plenty of Golden Knights opportunities, but once freshman Madison Oliver converted, HP took over.
With 9:06 left in the half, another ninth-grader, Maggie Cummings, scored to make it 2-0, and less than three minutes later the margin grew to three on a shot by Anna Healey off a penalty corner.
Cummings returned to score again in the second half and HP cruised to its ninth overall sectional title. Meanwhile, the Spartans finished a 10-3-5 season and has six seniors graduating, including Saunders, McGinley, Stone, Searle, Angelina Dodge and Lauren Miller.
