CENTRAL NEW YORK – When the latest edition of the state Class B girls soccer rankings were released, Westhill had moved up four spots to no. 16, no doubt buoyed by the 2-0 win over Marcellus on Oct. 2.
A rematch with the Mustangs looms this Thursday in the regular-season finale, but in the meantime the Warriors would get an even bigger test Saturday against unbeaten, state no. 5-ranked Clinton.
In what could prove to be a playoff preview, these two sets of Warriors engaged in plenty of back-and-forth action, but that played in Clinton’s favor as it went on to top Westhill by a score of 5-2.
All through the first half, Clinton kept tearing through Westhill’s defenses, building up a 4-1 edge as Avery Maxam notched a three-goal hat trick, adding an assist.
Even with tallies by Elle Herrera and Lily Kinsella, and assists to Molly Dorfman and Maya Wollen, Westhill could not catch up. Kate Bendall finished with seven saves.
Westhill had handled Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 7-0 early in the week, getting those seven goals from seven different players.
Iris Markham had one goal and one assist, while Mandy Pawelczyk got two assists. Herrera, Hannah Goodness, Emily Gangemi, Kennedy Rose, Kalista Czaplicki and Maggie Lubel also converted. Bradyn Taber and Bella Jones earned assists.
More important, though, was Westhill knocking off West Genesee 1-0 in a tense non-league classic last Wednesday night in Camillus.
Much of the game was scoreless, but late in the second half Herrera’s pass found Kinsella, who put the game-winner past Wildcats goalie Jenna Orr, rewarding a defense that withstood many WG attacks as Bendall stopped all seven shots she faced.
That same night, Marcellus was back in action, against Cazenovia, and though pushed to overtime, the Mustangs still knocked off the Lakers 2-1 on Senior night.
Cazenovia got on the board with a goal from Katie Rajkowski, but the Mustangs, with a goal from senior Brielle McShane, managed to keep it even 1-1 going into the 20 minutes of OT.
Then senior Lucy Powell put in what proved to be the game-winner midway through the first of the two 10-minute extra periods. Another senior, Emma MacLachlan, proved quite busy in the net, stopping 14 of the Lakers’ 15 shots.
Skaneateles meets Marcellus in Saturday’s regular-season finale. And it might go into that game with a month-long win streak.
In its only action last week, the Lakers topped Mexico 4-2 for its sixth victory in a row, with Kathryn Morrissey at the forefont as she picked up two goals and one assist.
Paige Willard and Claire Neumann also earned goals, with assists going to Maddy Ramsgard and Maeve McNeil. Emily Evans played in goal and recorded four saves.
