A wildly successful Saturday of girls and boys soccer regional finals helped a group of area teams make it to state championship weekend.
On the girls side, it took Westhill overtime to conquer Saranac in the Class B regional game as, on the boys side, Skaneateles, Cicero-North Syracuse and Christian Brothers Academy took their own paths to the state final four.
Westhill had already won a regional game when it went to Beekmantown High School and, in a tense regional showdown, it outlasted Saranac 3-2.
This was the same Red Storm side that had just upset state no. 1-ranked Schalmont in its previous regional games, and after a scoreless first half did not get rattled when a misplaced ball by its goalie allowed Hannah Goodness to score and give her side a 1-0 lead
Saranac tied it on Sydney Myers’ goal, only to have Goodness return and, off a cross from the left side by Jules Bleskoski, hit a strong left-footed shot while draped by two Red Storm defenders into the net. That made it 2-1, but again Myers converted on a penalty kick, which ultimately led to OT.
So it went to OT at 2-2, but early in the first extra period Bleskoski emerged with an attack down the left side. From an odd angle, Bleskoski put the shot on net – and it slipped off the hands of the Saranac goalie and went in for the game-winner.
Kate Bendall finished with seven saves as the Warriors, winners of 15 in a row, meets Section V’s Haverling Saturday at 5:30 at Cortland High School, the winner to get to Sunday’s 3 p.m. final against Irvington or Seaford. Three other sectional champions – New Hartford (Class A), Sauquoit Valley (Class C) and Cincinnatus (Class D) also reached the state final four.
Much closer to home, the Skaneateles boys kept its hopes of a third consecutive state title when, in OT, it beat Section IV’s Owego 1-0 at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, echoing what it had done in this exact same round one year ago.
Here, Again, the standout Lakers defense kept an opponent off the board for the fifth consecutive post-season game, only it couldn’t produce anything in the first or second half, so OT was required.
It didn’t take long. Winning a throw in Owego’s end, the Lakers turned to Casey Kenan, who flung it to the middle. The ball slid to the turf in the middle where Heischel Eidel slid and hit a hard shot that crashed into the left side of the net.
And now the Lakers can go after a third consecutive state title, as in Saturday’s state semifinal at 8:30 a.m. it will face Section II’s Mechanicville, the winner advancing to the title game at 8:30 on Sunday morning against Poughkeepsie Lourdes or Lewiston-Porter.
The unlikely run of Cicero-North Syracuse’s boys from a 3-3 start to a state final four appearance continued when it went to Troy last Saturday and, against Section II champion Shaker, relied on familiar elements to put away the Blue Bison 2-0.
Having gone through OT in both the sectional semifinals and finals, the Northstars got off to a better start here, Jacob Dietter managing to find the scoreboard midway through the first half.
And through the bulk of the night, it was, again, the C-NS defense putting up a stellar effort, protecting that slim one-goal margin and maintaining a shutout streak that now covers six consecutive goals.
To avoid any late drama, the Northstars pushed and, with 5:36 left, Sean Graves put in the clinching goal, assuring a trip to championship weekend. The Northstars will face Section I’s Scarsdale in the state semifinal Saturday at 2 p.m. at Middletown High School. The winner goes to Sunday night’s title game at 5:30 against Rochester McQuaid or Connetquot.
Then there was Class A, where CBA left no doubt in its regional final, also against Columbia, the Brothers routing the Blue Devils 6-0.
Just as he did in each of his previous post-season games, Connor Morgia put in a goal in the early stages, with Jack Griffith also finding the net as, once again, the Brothers found itself in front 2-0 at halftime.
Early in the second half, any questions about the outcome quickly went away. Morgia hit for a second goal and Will Harrigan converted, too, with Griffith returning to pour in a 30-yard shot to make it 5-0 and Caleb Buddie adding a late tally.
Andrew Kohlbrenner, back from an injury suffered in the sectional final, picked up a pair of assists, with Zack Walma and defender Tom Leskoske also getting assists.
CBA now looks to its state semifinal at 12:30 at Monroe-Woodbury High School, where it faces Section IX’s Beacon, who will be playing close to home. The winner advances to Sunday’s final at 1 p.m. at Middletown High School against Spencerport or Amityville.
