Bethlehem 2, Liverpool 1 (OT)
Class A
Jamesville-Dewitt 6, Scotia-Glenville 0
Jamesville-Dewitt 8, Massena 0
Class B
Westhill 2, CCHS 0
Westhill 3, Beekmantown 0
Class C
Schoharie 2, Potsdam 0
Lansing 2, Sauquoit 1
Class D
Bolton-Warrensburg 3, Eldred 1 (OT)
Poland 3, Milford 0
Great game on Saturday afternoon in Fulton between Section 2 and Section 3's Class AA representatives in regional finals. Bethlehem, out of Section II, and Liverpool, out of III, both were teams that most didn't expect to get to this point. At least 'Pool was somewhat of a contender - the 3rd seed still had to knock off the top 2 seeds in sectionals to be crowned - Bethlehem had nothing handed to them. Section 2's 6 seed beat the 3, 2, and 1 in succession to get here. The game resembled that of two teams with the kind of grit needed to battle through teams presumed as better. Well, that and two teams that were cold. Everyone was a step slower than usual. Liverpool got on the board first in the earlier stages of the 1st half when Emily Dorr put one inside the left post in the 18th minute. I could hear Bethlehem coach Tom Rogan addressing his team at half. Mental toughness was the message - through sectionals, they had jumped on their opponent early and had a halftime lead. This was the first time in the postseason that they had to play from behind. Toughness is what they showed. Kassie Hautau tied it up with 19:08 remaining (somewhat) off a corner kick - the corner bounced around like a pinball in the box for almost 15 seconds before being cleared. The ball quickly found its way to Hautau, who put it on frame and off the keeper's outstretched hand into goal. Miranda Manziano did a phenomenal job on the other end in goal to make sure Liverpool didn't regain the lead. She made 5 legitimate saves in the 2nd half, including a couple diving stops and sliding kick save. Dorr put a hard shot on goal with 13 minutes to play, but Manziano knocked it away with a diving save to her left. 5 minutes later, she did the same thing, diving to her left to stop a ball that had a tricky bounce to it. We got to see 20 extra minutes of soccer, but the winner happened in just over 2. Kaylee Rickert worked hard to win a ball on a hard run, and the toe poke toward goal snuck underneath a diving Julia Richey to make it 2-1 in favor of Bethlehem with 7:54 left in the first extra session. The Eagles were able to do a nice job through the rest of OT warding off pressure, as Liverpool was only able to get 2 shots off (1 on goal) in extra time. The run for the Eagles that can only be described as magical rolls on - the 3 seed, 2 seed, 1 seed, Section III champ, and now they get North Rockland (#5 in the state) at 9:30 AM on Saturday at TC3 in the semis. Oh, yeah. A team that's supposed to beat them. They've heard this story before.
There hasn't been any drama for J-D. I already wrote a story about the sub-regional game, where they blasted Scotia 6-0. Scroll down for that story if you're interested. As bad as that was, their regional final was even... worse? Yup. The Red Ram train is coming through to flatten anyone in their way, and Massena was on the blank end of an 8-0 smacking yesterday. One person taking over and running up her goal total?.. Nope. The game after 6 girls scored a goal apiece in the 6-0 win, 7 players contributed goals in this 8-0 win (Paige Sherling was the only one with 2) and 5 more had assists (Alex Catanzarite had 2). Think about that. Let it marinate. 12 people were in the scoring column for J-D. In a game. In the regional finals. Wait, what? Yeah. In all, 9 J-D players have scored in the 2 regional games. Pretty sure there isn't a soul that wants to line up opposite them right now. With Sayville, the #1 team in the state in Class A, knocked out by Shoreham-Wading River - and them being knocked out by Rockville Centre South Side - J-D is the favorite in the Class A state tournament. They will get a challenge in the semis, facing #3 Somers of Section I at 2:30 Saturday at TC3.
Westhill's been solid as a rock in Class B. I also already talked about their 2-0 win over CCHS, so scroll down more if you'd like to read about that. They locked up their next opponent in the same way, beating Beekmantown up north 3-0 yesterday to keep on rolling. Jayanna Monds buried two goals to lead the #1 ranked Warriors, giving her 3 and an assist in 2 regional games. Judging by tweets from some northerners, they.. erm... didn't exactly make friends with the Beekmantown girls? But that's irrelevant, I'd dance on the field all day if I dominated someone en route to the semis. Westhill is solid in every position, and they very rarely break down. If you want to have a chance against them, you either have to take advantage of every single time there's a breakdown or just make some phenomenal plays. Good luck. Section I's Bronxville, ranked 3rd in the state, will be the next team to give it a crack. That game is 12:00 Saturday at Cortland HS.
Ahh, the two smaller classes. In C & D, I get to talk a touch more because Section II & Section III reps don't play each other in regionals. 3 plays the southern tier, and 2 plays.. whoever gets there. In Class C, Section II got the winner of the north country. The north country stopped there. Schoharie got its 2nd straight win at the 'Burgh, beating Potsdam 2-0 yesterday. It was the usual suspects involved again, with Carrie Krohn & Seana Cleveland scoring and Kaitlyn Kendle handing out an assist. Schoharie now boasts 3 players with 20+ goals & 10+ assists on the season, and a 4th with 10+ & 10+. Only one of them (Kendle) is a senior, and her 25 goals are matched by Krohn (a freshman), who has 25 as well. Stillwater gave them everything they could handle in the quarterfinals. They must be wondering how far their season could've went if they were able to break through in that one. As a matter of fact, all of their Section II postseason games were 1 goal games, with this being the most "lopsided" in postseason play. Schoharie is battle tested and not afraid of close ones. They like to score early and then focus on shutting you out, and it's worked so far. They've given up just 1 goal in the postseason, and that was with 3 minutes left in the final. Only 9 have been scored on them all season, and I'm sure they'd like to keep it at that number in their game against Section IV's Lansing, 5:00 Saturday at Cortland HS. Lansing got there by beating Section III champion Sauquoit Valley 2-1 yesterday at Fulton. It was a hotly contested game that was the most physical of the three at G. Ray Bodley HS on this day. Lansing got on the board first after Megan Dean knocked one through in the 15th minute. The ball bounced out to her after the pinball effect on a corner and she finished the job. Sauquoit responded with 13:00 left in the 1st half off a corner as well. The ball ended up a little over 20 yards outside of goal, and then Elma Sarajlija happened. The youngster turned on it and sent a rocket right upper 90 with the left foot in what without question was the goal of the night, tying it up at 1. Sauquoit wasn't in full control, but they did have the better half of play. However, it didn't translate onto the scoreboard, and Lansing broke the tie midway through the 2nd half when Reilly Zajac put one home. Sauquoit brought the pressure, but couldn't get the equalizer. Another season coming up short in the state playoffs for a perennial Section III powerhouse.
Both state semifinals in Class D feature a team in my zone. I like it. Section II's Bolton/Warrensburg squad needed an extra 20 minutes, but were able to knock off Eldred 3-1. Eldred made it to the semis last year before getting ousted by Poland; they won't get the chance this year. Liv Seamans is now the leading scorer in Section II, and that won't change. She put home goals 44 and 45 in the extra session to help her squad roll forward. They play at 10 AM Saturday at Homer against Arkport, Section V's rep. B/W is currently #8 in the state; Arkport is at #5. One of Arkport's 3 losses this year... came to Poland. The top-ranked team in Class D advanced to the state semifinals for the 3rd year in a row with a 3-0 W over Milford. They weren't expected to get out of Section III (poor Remsen) in 2012. They did, and it resulted in a state title. They were perhaps expected to win the state title last year, but lost to Jasper-Troupsburg in the final. They're back, looking to go 2 for 3 in the finals. They dominated for all 80 minutes against Milford, who was ranked #4 in the state coming in as Section IV's representative. It took a little while for them to break through, but there was no question who was coming out on top. In the 20th minute, Mikayla Blumenstock (I mean, who else?) started off the scoring off a feed from Jordan Batson. Milford did everything they could to keep Poland off the board, bringing the vast majority of their team back to clog the middle of the field. Despite an 11-1 edge in shots, along with 4 corners, the clutter of defenders mixed with 3 solid saves by Rukiye Henderson held the score at 1-0 by half. Just over 5 minutes into the 2nd half, the other Blumenstock struck. 8th grader Keara is quickly showing why you should remember her name instead of just as 'Mikki's little sis'. Her emergence as the 3rd scoring option behind Mikki (47 goals) and Saige Hampston propels this team to a new level. Oh yeah, Saige. She scored too. The senior knocked one home with 10 minutes left, bumping the lead to 3-0 and effectively ending any thought of a comeback. Milford didn't quit - they nearly tallied with 30 seconds left - but it was all Poland. 20-3 edge in shots with 9 on goal, the ball in their attacking third for what seemed like every minute, they showed why they're tops in the state. For anyone who was at Franklin/Poland in 2012 in Fulton... everything about the two games lined up except for one goal. Fulton HS on a Saturday in November. Really cold. Poland played a Section IV team near Oneonta that wore purple. Dominated, but the other team never quit. Youth on both sides. The other one was 4-0; this one was 3-0. Only difference. Many of the Poland players that are factors now were factors then. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Tornadoes will have their chance to advance to their 3rd straight state final when they battle Chateaugay, 12:30 on Saturday at Homer. Poland beat Chateaugay 2 years ago in the state semi before winning the final. Let's see if history repeats itself.
Side Notes
Barring anything crazy, Kaitlin Robbins' career goals mark of 208 will not be standing after next year. Mikayla Blumenstock is at 159 and counting, 47 this season. A couple more goals next weekend and match the total next year, and she breaks it. The easiest option to pick for breaking it, though, is Queensbury junior Brittany LaPlant. She has 182, and if she didn't miss the last month of this season with a broken foot, she may be past it now... Section II & III, with 3 reps each in the semifinals, are just behind Sections I & V for most representatives. Section V has 4 teams through, with Class AA being the only one in which they were nipped by Section VI. Section I has teams in all but Class D semis, and that's because there isn't a Class D school in Section I... Three things are certain. Death, taxes, and either Chazy or Chateaugay being in the D semis. Chateaugay beat Chazy this year to get there... Look out for Rockville Centre South Side in the Class A bracket. Long Island's representative (Section VIII) that just beat the team that knocked off the top-ranked team in the state is no stranger to Cortland. RCSS girls soccer has won more state titles than any team in NYS, any school, any sport. Winning one this year would give the program number 18.
No comments:
Post a Comment