This type of game is what you hope for in a sectional final. The type of game that, whether win, lose, or just watch, you won't be forgetting for a long time.
After looking like they had it wrapped up in regulation, a misplayed ball and a high bounce became an unreal fluke goal to initially rip it away from Catholic Central. However, they were able to regain their composure and eventually get a fortuitous bounce of their own, which helped them bring home a title.
It was cold. And rainy. And cold. And windy. Really windy. Did I mention cold? It was the type of weather that I tried to come up with a 'only (enter name here) could love' line for, but gave up because I don't think anyone could love it. There was a pretty strong diagonal wind blowing which could put one team downwind and one upwind, but couldn't help anyone. CCHS went that semi-downwind in the first half, and controlled over the last 20 minutes but couldn't finish anything off. The Blackbirds, a 5 seed that won a legitimate road game and a neutral site game against the #1 team in the state, Schalmont, to get here, picked it up to start the 2nd half. They evened play, and a lot of it was physicality. CCHS normally gets into opponents' heads with their physicality, but the reverse was happening for a little while on this day. For the majority of the contest, Blackbird defenders were able to neutralize Alexis Riffelbach and Madison Purcell. Easier said than done.
For the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half, Voorheesville's chances were better too. Shot just wide left. Shot juuust wide right. Shot off the post. Shot that made it past GK Dominique Stavis on goal but was deflected away by a defender. The chances were there. They weren't able to capitalize. Along with that, they forgot about one thing for a minute; hey, mark Lauren Drake too. Drizzy sometimes isn't in the limelight because of Riffelbach and Purcell, but she's every bit of a stud, too. 7 goals in 3 sectional games before this one, including back-to-back hat tricks - make that 8 goals in sectionals and 22 for the season when the Voorheesville D lapsed for a minute. Lauren got a couple steps of separation and snuck one underneath the top post from a little outside the 18 with 6:17 remaining. From that point on, it was about holding on for dear life because you knew the Voorheesville last chance onslaught was coming. A couple dangerous balls were cleared away, and it looked like the Crusaders would hold on.
Oh, how were we so naive? In the waning seconds, the ball was cleared to Lydia Parker over 40 yards away from goal. She booted one towards the goal, and Stavis approached it as if it would take a grass field bounce - either that, or she wasn't sure if she should charge at it and get it in the air or just hang out and let it bounce to her. Whatever it may be, it took a high bounce on the new turf field and got over her hands straight into the netting, knotting it up at 1 with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. The borderline miraculous goal by a girl with just 2 goals & 2 assists on the season beforehand gave Voorheesville new life. That new life lasted into the first OT...
Let's talk about Dom Stavis for a minute. She let that goal go through on a ball everyone knew she wished she could have. It takes mental toughness to recover from that and handle business as quickly as she was called upon, and most people - especially high schoolers - will shut down from that. She didn't. Voorheesville put two shots on goal 3 minutes into the first extra time session - one that was another tricky bounce that she needed to lay out for, and a second shot that was right to her, but low and hard. She handled both without a problem. Those saves ended the Blackbird push, and CCHS was able to build a little bit of pressure late in the 1st session. Things always tend to work themselves out in the long run. Early in the 2nd session, the aforementioned Madison Purcell - 25 goal scorer who is a LeMoyne commit for basketball - knocked a free kick inside the box from 35 yards out. Voorheesville GK Jordan Pettograsso slid down to catch it, but the ball bounced off her chest and out of reach. As she was trying to dive forward for it, a defender and Alexis Riffelbach were going for it as well. From my angle, it looked like the defender was who hit it, but I had the bad one, as it was Lexi Riff. Regardless of who hit it, the ball hit the back of the net and Riffelbach got with her 39th goal of the season - and I'm going to assume the one she likes the most - with 9:00 to play in the 2nd session. Voorheesville tried to throw the kitchen sink at Catholic Central late, eventually letting a couple more shots loose, but the Crusaders were able to ward it off and boot the ball away from danger every time. It took 100 minutes, but when all was said and done, CCHS was able to call themselves sectional champs in girls soccer for the first time in its history.
The Rest
I've probably watched CCHS girls soccer more this year than any other team in any sport. Giving a quick look through my game log, I think this marked the 7th time. They've had the offensive firepower from the start, but two things have pushed them over the top since the beginning of the year: defensive improvements and the emergence of Lauren Drake. At the beginning of the season, they appeared to be a team that could outscore nearly anyone with their skill and speed up top, but I was far less confident if the game was a 1-0 or 2-1 game. They buckled down defensively. It wasn't always pretty, but the job got done. In each of their last 2 games, a CCHS player knocked away a sure goal right by the line after it got past the keeper. It was one thing against Hoosick Falls, a 6-2 final. Imagine this game if a CCHS defender hadn't knocked a 2nd half shot away from the goal line? We'd probably be talking about Voorheesville winning. The emergence of Heartbreak Drake can't be understated - at least heartbreak for the teams that underrated her. At the beginning of the season, it was Riffelbach, Purcell... and oh yeah that #3 girl is decent too. Now, it's Riffelbach, Purcell, and Drake. No question that the dynamic duo up front is now a big 3. In 16 regular season games, she registered 13 goals & 7 assists. Not bad. In the 4 sectional games, she added on 8 goals & 4 assists to that total, including hat tricks in the quarterfinal and semifinal games. Teams didn't show her as much attention in their gameplan as the other two, and she responded in the best way possible for her team... CCHS has scored 95 goals on the season. 85 of them have come from Riffelbach (39), Purcell (25), and Drake (21)... 2 goals scored for them matched their lowest output of the season. They beat Troy 2-1 twice... The 1st time sectional champs now play Westhill of Section 3 in always cold & windy Fulton on Tuesday. The Warriors are no stranger to success, but it's their first time coming out of Section 3 in 6 years. Their only loss is to 6 time defending Section 3 Class A champ Jamesville-Dewitt. 6 players have scored 5+ goals for them, led by sophomore Jayanna Monds (18). They've given up just 16 goals on the season (5 to J-D) and 1 in sectionals... I told you I'm initially a Section 3 guy. Of course I know this stuff... Good luck to both teams. I'm close with some people in the Westhill district, and the CCHS crew has been nice enough to me!
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