Heading to Fulton today, the land of Lake Ontario, strong wind, and (thankfully not today) lake-effect snow. Scotia/J-D and CCHS/Westhill. Let's talk about them quick.
Scotia-Glenville girls soccer has their first sectional title in 12 years. Jamesville-Dewitt now has their 6th title in 6. For the first time in that run, they're not playing Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, who fell just short of winning 10 straight titles. The Tartans are just a solid team across the board. Skilled enough to beat you in an uptempo game, physical enough to grind one out against you. There's a reason they were able to convincingly slay the dragon. Dom Puglisi is one of the most impressive players I've watched this season - 8 goals, but 24 assists and almost never makes the wrong play. She feeds the monster that is the balanced Scotia offense - 97 goals this year, and no one has 20. Gracie Mailey leads the way with 18, but Abby O'Connor and Maddy Carroll are both in double digits too, and Kelsey Martin will be if she scores tonight. Winners of 16 straight over the last 2 months, they're looking to keep rolling. Can't get a more difficult challenge than J-D though. They lost to Burnt Hills at this stage last year... with basically the same team. They only lost 3 players from that regional squad, and they're as strong defensively as you could hope for. I can say the same thing about the home team on the scoreboard as I did for S-G. They're skilled enough to beat you in fast break soccer, and they're physical enough to put the hurt on in a physical game. Did I mention they D you up? Something like 8 GAA all year. Sophomore Alex Catanzarite made an enormous jump from last year, now leading J-D with 19 goals & 8 assists. Other usual suspects Paige Sherling, Caroline Kopp (always dangerous on free kicks), and Amber Hyatt make the Red Rams oh-so worthy of that #2 ranking they've had all season long. Two teams with similar styles duking it out - skilled, yet physical. They take their opportunities when they get them, but they're cool with playing slower and controlling it a little bit. This one is more of a chess match. Let's see who outwits the other.
And then the nightcap. Unlike the first game, we've got contrasting styles here. When you make it this far, not only does it mean you're pretty damn good, it also means you've improved over the season. Catholic Central exemplifies that. If you asked me at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't be so confident that they could beat another good team in a 1-0 or 2-1 game. That's changed. The Crusaders are like a bottle rocket. When they get room and are able to explode... oooh, ahhh. 3 goals in 2 minutes. Oooh, that was quick. They will still make mistakes. They'll still give up goals. Their willingness to sacrifice whatever to not break has been the difference for them. The defense has bent and twice in the last 2 games, the ball's made it past GK Dom Stavis - only to be booted away by a retreating defender right before it hits the goal line. Didn't matter as much when they cranked Hoosick Falls in the semi, but in a 1 goal OT game in the finals... all the difference in the world. Oh yeah, they've got the Big 3. Alexis Riffelbach, Section 2's leading scorer with 39 goals (18 assists too) leads the charge. Madison Purcell, the lone senior of the 3 - making the trip near her future college, as she's a LeMoyne hoops commit - has 25 goals & a Section 2 leading 31 assists. Lauren Drake has went ballistic in postseason play, nearly doubling her regular season output already, and she's got 21 & 11. Well, there you have it. The team has scored 95 goals this year, and they have 85 of them. They make things happen. The bottle rockets take on the Mack truck (ha, get it. Westhill's playing CCHS. I threw a Mack reference in there. Like Anthony. Heh.) in the Westhill Warriors. Once Westhill gets going, good luck slowing them down. They're a very solid team top to bottom, and they very rarely break down in the back. They're so strong defensively, it was a defender who won the sectional tournament MOP. They have also improved - they'll give you scoring from almost anywhere, so sophomore standout Jayanna Monds has some pressure relieved, and defenses can't key in on just her. It was her older sister, Tatiana, who got her 6th of the year in their 1-0 sectional final win over Lowville. They've given up just 15 goals on the season, with 1/3 of them being to A champ J-D. They don't score quite as much, but it's also an option-loaded squad. Jayanna has 18 & 10 to lead the top-ranked Warriors, but 6 in all have 5+ goals. This one's going to be very interesting. This is CCHS' first sectional title in girls soccer, and it's Westhill's first since my senior year of HS (fall 2008). Their styles of play are very different, but they've shown they can win at each other's style now. You pick 'em. I'm not.
The Rest
1.) I'll number these.
2.) Scotia/J-D, CCHS/Westhill... who else would want to see these matchups in boys basketball? Cremo vs. DeRegis, Stopera vs. Dourdas, etc... I know Coach Giammattei & Coach McKenney have seen quite a bit of each other in regionals. Maybe even this year! Won't have the chance for CCHS/Westhill, but oh boy... Raiquis Harris (D1 interest), Anthony Mack (D1 lock), Brian Brooks (#ShiftTeam) vs. Jordan Roland (George Washington commit), Tyler Reynolds (D1 lock), Jeff Lobello (Mr. Calm, Cool, & Collected)... yo, make it happen!
3.) Section 2 people that haven't been to Fulton before... beware of winds coming off Lake Ontario. They're strong & cold. You're damn lucky it's too warm for lake-effect snow. Y'all don't know 'bout that...
4.) If you're not going to Tully's after for food, it's really time to reevaluate life choices!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment