Absent a post-season goal to reach, the Westhill and Marcellus girls soccer teams would find plenty of motivation just by returning to the field after so much pre-season uncertainty.
Westhill would go first, taking on its neighbors from West Genesee last Monday night in Camillus as the Warriors edged past the Wildcats 1-0.
Neither team scored in the first half, but Westhill’s defense was effective, limiting to two shots. That stinginess was rewarded when, in the second half, Grace Winkler took a pass from Brooke Zollo and converted the game-winner.
Without any rest, the Warriors turned around 24 hours later to face Mexico, and it didn’t prove easy, but the Warriors were able to claim a 2-1 decision over the Tigers.
Helped by a goal by Alecsis Buda, Mexico forged a 1-1 halftime tie, requiring Westhill to push hard in the second half to move out in front and stay there. Ashley Bolesh and Mia Herrera got the Warriors’ goals to overcome 12 saves by Tigers goalie Briana Urquhart.
For its next game, WG would face Fayetteville-Manlius, whom it lost to in the 2019 sectional Class AA final.
Now, as then, the Hornets prevailed, a 4-1 decision where the Wildcats finally netted its first goal of the season late in the first half, Ella Merritt finding the net off a feed from Eva Poissant.
By then, though, F-M already had a 3-0 edge thanks to goals from Katherine Amico, Lauren Hodge and Morgan Goodman, and Goodman would tack on another goal in the second half. Between them, WG goalies Jenna Orr and Cameron Rosenthal had 13 saves.
As that went on, Westhill blanked Phoenix 3-0, with Herrera notching two of the Warriors’ goals and the other going to Lily Kinsella as Hannah Thayer, Hannah Goodness and Kaylin Battista had one assist apiece.
It wasn’t until last Thursday night that Marcellus had its opener, against Pulaski, and the wait proved worthwhile in terms of results as Marcellus got a 5-0 win over the Blue Devils.
Patient while taking 27 shots overall, the Mustangs netted a 2-0 advantage by halftime and more than doubled it while seeing five different players net those five goals.
Katie MacLachlan, Sara Mielnicki, Brielle McShane, Sam Wynne and Lucy Powell took turns finding the net, assists going to Hannah Durand and Emma Roseboom.
As a main rival of both schools, Skaneateles was quite eager to measure itself against the Mustangs and Lakers, but first displayed its talents last Tuesday in a season-opening 8-0 shutout of Pulaski.
Bedeviling the Blue Devils, Skaneateles depended a lot on Maeve McNeil, who poured in four goals, but hardly worked alone.
Tatumn Pas’cal, along with Mackenzie Miller and Juila O’Connor, each finished with one goal and one assist. Maddy Ramsgard also scored as Logan Miller and Grace Bailey picked up assists.
Things turned around on Thursday, when Skaneateles was kept off the board in a 1-0 defeat to Mexico where, as in so many soccer games, one controlled the tempo but the other got the outcome.
Each of the Lakers’ 13 shots was turned away by Tigers goalie Briana Urquhart, and a second-half foul inside the 18-yard box on a rare Mexico attack led to a penalty kick that Adria Ariola converted.
On Saturday, West Genesee handled Cortland 7-2 for its first win of the season, led by Marlee Pontello’s hat trick as Poissant scored twice and Giovanna Vigiliotti had a goal and two assists. Sarah Petrus got one goal and one assist.
