CENTRAL NEW YORK – Back on Sept. 3, the Skaneateles girls soccer team appeared to reassert its control over the area Class B ranks when it earned a 2-0 shutout over main challenger Westhill on the Warriors’ home turf.
But the two sides will meet again Thursday night at Hyatt Stadium, a key game in the regular-season homestretch – though, by the time they met, Marcellus had reestablished its place as a contender.
This was mostly due to what the Mustangs accomplished in last Tuesday’s battle with visiting Skaneateles, where in damp, moist conditions the two long-time rivals ended up in a 1-1 draw.
Having fallen entirely out of the state Class B rankings after rising to no. 2 the week before, the Lakers again found itself behind when Ava Aupperle scored in the 14th minute, assisted by Janie Powell.
A few minutes later, Paige Willard tied it off a feed from Kathryn Morrissey, and the stalemate began, lasting through the remaining 60-plus minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.
All game long, the Mustangs’ defense was under assault, Skaneateles taking 26 shots overall. In one of her best games so far, Marcellus keeper JoJo Leubner put up 20 saves, with Skaneateles counterpart Mara Stanton getting six saves.
What happened after these teams met, though, was quite different.
Marcellus was upended Thursday night in a 2-1 defeat to Phoenix, who saw Danielle Sussey and Courtney Carter each net goals in the first half, which proved enough.
Corinne Aldrich had the Mustangs’ lone goal, and the hosts dominated the possession, but couldn’t get anything else behind Firebirds goalie Sara Ruetsch, who had 14 saves.
At least Marcellus rebounded on Saturday with a 5-0 shutout of Oswego where Powell netted two goals, witih single goals going to Aupperle, Lauren Weidner and Cece Powell, who joined Corinne Aldrich and Abby Bianchi in the assist column.
Skaneateles, meanwhile, roared past Mexico 6-1, with Maddy Ramsgard primarily responsible for getting the offense on track thanks to her season-best total of four assists.
Only Willard scored twice on the Lakers’ side, with Morrissey, Tate Ryan, Isabella Arroyo and Reese Gaidis also finding the net. Grace O’Gorman earned the Tigers’ lone goal.
Away from all this, Westhill put away Christian Brothers Academy 3-0 last Monday night, with Ashley Bolesh leading a well-balanced Warriors attack.
All told, Bolesh had one goal and one assist, with Lily Kinsella and Jules Bleskoski also finding the net and Mary Kate Rewakowski earning an assist.
And as the week ended, Westhill earned another shutout, handling General Brown 4-0 as four different players – Bolesh, Kinsella, Kara Rosenberger and Rosie Mahoney – earned those four goals. Elle Herrera and Mandy Pawelczyk picked up assists.
