Not for a long while had the Marcellus girls soccer team got the better of its most storied rival, Westhill – in fact, none of the current Mustangs players had ever recorded a varsity win over the Warriors.
That changed last Tuesday night as a fine all-around team effort helped Marcellus prevail 1-0, putting an end to Westhill’s five-game win streak.
From the outset, the Marcellus midfield dictated possession, rarely letting Westhill establish any sort of attack while making its own occasional forays. Hannah Durand, Katie MacLachlan and Emma MacLachlan were largely responsible for this pace-setting.
Stymied most of the first half, the Warriors almost went in front right before the break as two different shots in the last minute careened off the right post and crossbar.
Then, 2:25 into the second half, the Mustangs had a corner kick, from where Hannah Durand sent a well-placed cross to the middle, where amid a scramble Annaliese Bird poked a shot past Makenna Robbins.
Now with that one-goal lead, the Mustangs protected it against a series of Westhill set pieces, turning away all free and corner kicks and then, over the game’s last 10 minutes, ably possessing the ball.
Start to finish, Shannon Kellar took away the right side of the field from the Warriors as fellow defenders Taylor Smith, Kaitlyn Worden, PeggyMorocco and Sam Wynne also played large roles, with Wynne shifting from defense to midfield as the night went along.
As for Skaneateles, it made a last-minute addition to the schedule Thursday when it drew a game against 6-0 East Syracuse Minoa, an opponent which proceeded to overwhelm the Lakers 5-0.
In particular, Spartans freshman forward Leah Rehm tormeneted the Skaneateles defense, earning a hat trick before halftime as she scored three times, twice assisted by Nina Polcaro.
Not stopping there, Rehm added two more goals in the second half, making it quite difficult for Lakers goalie Bridget Carroll, though Carroll finished with 11 saves.
This was a prelude to the Lakers getting a second opportunity against the Marcellus side it lost to on Oct. 17.
And the rematch was close, but the Mustangs claimed another 1-0 victory, again leaning on strong defense and again having Bird involved in the go-ahead goal, this time assisting on Lucy Powell’s lone tally. Leubner stopped all five shots she faced.
Before COVID-19 canceled late-week activities at that school, West Genesee took a second shot at Baldwinsville last Monday night and, unlike its Oct. 2 season opener, did get on the board, but still lost 3-1 to the Bees.
It was Claire McManus putting the Wildcats on the board with an unassisted goal. Between them, Cameron Rosenthal and Zoe Orr made 21 saves, but B’ville star Hannah Mimas still scored twice and assisted on Jozlyn Dolan’s tally.
Bishop Ludden took a 2-1 defeat to Tully last Tuesday night. Faith Griffin’s second-half goal got the Gaelic Knights on the board and Sarah Boyea was superb in the net, recording 19 saves, but not quite able to overcome goals by the Black Knights’ duo of Emma Byrne and Maddy Ernst.
But Ludden turned around and, on Friday, edged Bishop Grimes by that same 2-1 margin.
Other than a Jenna Sloan goal, Boyea turned everything else away, finishing with 11 saves, and got more support thanks to goals by Annie Gaughan and Alexia Chemotti. Sophia Chemotti added an assist.
