CENTRAL NEW YORK – Entering their respective Section III boys soccer semifinals, Jamesville-DeWitt and Manlius Pebble Hill had each won twice, and each of them now faced challenging games against top seeds.
For the Red Rams, the result proved agonizing, a tremendous effort against top seed Westhill thwarted when the Warriors prevailed in penalty kicks in front of a loud and boisterous crowd Tuesday night at Christian Brothers Academy’s Alibrandi Stadium.
Shutouts of Camden (9-0) and Carthage (3-0) in the early Class A rounds had put no. 4 seed J-D in this position. Now it met a Westhill side who had shut out 13 of 14 opponents, yet had needed overtime to get past Whitesboro in the Oct. 20 quarterfinals.
The 80 minutes of regulation went without a resolution or a goal, and this was despite the Warriors spending large portions of the game parked in the Red Rams’ end, all of its efforts to go in front proving futile.
That continued into the 20 minutes of overtime. A golden goal was within reach, but again Westhill was stymied, J-D goalile Adam Rigdon working his total to 17 saves in a valiant and superb effort.
So it went to penalty kicks, five on each side. But five rounds were not enough as the Rams made four out of five attempts and Westhill did exactly the same.
In the sixth round, Warriors goalie Charlie DeMore made his biggest stop of the season, and when Benji McPeak found the net, Westhill was in the title game and J-D’s season had concluded with a 7-10-2 mark.
A day later, at South Jefferson, it was MPH trying to take down top seed Poland in the sectional Class D semifinals, but seeing its season conclude, too, in a 2-1 defeat to the Tornadoes.
In theory, the Trojans had both the advantage of playoff experience and rest, having played (and won) its quarterfinal Oct. 20 while Poland was on just one days’ rest after a rain-delayed quarterfinal last Monday when it ousted Faith Heritage by that exact same 2-1 margin.
Poland nabbed the only goal of the first half, Daetyn Jones converting it, but the Trojans’ defense settled down and blanked the Tornadoes for a while, giving its attack a chance to respond.
And it did when Brody Cook netted the tying goal, the 1-1 game staying that way until late in regulation as both OT and penalty kicks loomed as a possibility here, too.
With 12 minutes left, though, Carter Cookinham directed Jason Victor’s corner kick past MPH goalie Liam Allen. Despite making 10 saves and keeping his team in it, Allen could only watch as Poland advanced to face Hamilton in the sectional final and the Trojans’ season ended with a 14-4 record.
