CENTRAL NEW YORK – In order for the Skaneateles girls soccer team to maintain its Section III Class B crown, it will have to get past Westhill first.
The top-seeded Warriors and no. 4 seed Lakers were paired in the same half of the sectional bracket, meaning that, if they made it through the opening rounds, they would go head-to-head in the semifinals – which they would.
Neither side had much trouble in the opening round as Westhill rolled past no. 16 seed Clinton 4-0 and Skaneateles had an even more lopsided 5-0 win over no. 13 seed General Brown.
To get its playoff run underway, Westhill relied on a well-balanced attack led by Lily Kinsella, who netted two of her team’s four goals against Clinton.
Ashley Bolesh and Hannah Goodness had the other goals, with Mary Kate Rewakowski and Elle Herrera picking up assists. Lizzie Horner stopped all five shots she faced.
Skaneateles, meanwhile, handled General Brown in large part due to Paige Willard, who punished the Lions’ defenses to the tune of a three-goal hat trick plus an assist.
Maddy Ramsgard and Camryn Calabro contributed goals, with Isabella Arroyo getting two assists. Julia O’Connor also had an assist.
Now, in the sectional quarterfinals, Westhill opposed no. 8 seed Mexico as Skaneateles was challenged by no. 5 seed Holland Patent. Again, both would get shutouts.
The Warriors battled past the Tigers 2-0, with Goodness at the forefront as she earned one goal and assisted on the other, by Herrera, which negated nine saves by Mexico goalie Caprice Cuituli.
Kate Bendall, playing the entire game in the net, stopped all six of the Tigers’ shots, and Westhill had its ninth shutout of the season.
Skaneateles had a slightly larger winning margin against Holland Patent, blanking the Golden Knights 3-0 in order to get its chance to avenge a 3-2 overtime defeat to Westhill earlier this month.
While all this was going on, Marcellus rose from its no. 11 seed to make post-season noise of its own, starting last Tuesday by going to no. 6 seed Cazenovia and, in a bit of payback, prevailing 1-0.
Having lost at home 2-1 to these same Lakers one week earlier, the Mustangs clamped down on defense and remained 0-0 with Cazenovia through the first half and most of the second half, too.
With slightly more scoring opportunities, the Lakers saw all seven of its shots stopped by Mustangs goalie JoJo Leubner.
Then, with eight minutes left in regulation, Marcellus found room in Cazenovia’s end – and Janie Powell raced to it, beat the Lakers’ defenders and sent a shot past Skye Stanford that proved the game-winner.
Now the Mustangs looked for another road win in last Thursday’s quarterfinal against no. 3 seed Lowville, and with Cece Powell proving unstoppable, the Mustangs won again, eliminating the Red Raiders 3-1.
Midway throught the first half, Cece Powell put Marcellus on the board, her goal assisted by Janie Powell. Then, just before the half, Cece took the ball at midfield and raced 50 yards through Lowville defenders before putting it past Red Raiders goalie Jerika Myers.
Not content with that, Cece Powell returned to belt a corner kick from Claire Card into the net with 18 minutes to play. Lowville did get a late goal from Mia Hanselman, but it proved too late.
Right after Westhill and Skaneateles square off, Marcellus faces no. 2 seed Central Valley Academy in the other sectional semifinal.
