Westhill 2, Catholic Central 0
When we get past sectional play, there should never be a gimme. Even for teams ranked #1 in the state, you hope games will be competitive all the way through once they start facing winners from other sections. The top-ranked Westhill team got a test on Tuesday night, but they were able to ward off danger like top-ranked teams do en route to a sub-regional W.
Since I haven't read an article on this yet, either way, that I was thinking 'holy shit, this is pretty biased' while reading it, I'll be the impartial one in this article. No Syracuse or Albany (well, Troy) bias. Pretty even first 30 minutes in Fulton for this one. A lot of play between the 18s, but it was fast-paced. Fast play favors CCHS, but as I mentioned in the preview, both teams can win playing at any pace at this point, so it's not like it hurt Westhill. The Warriors let loose a couple shots on goal that Dom Stavis had to work in order to save, and the Big 3 of Riffelbach, Purcell, and Drake made things happen at times, but Westhill's defense was able to recover and at least not give the 85 goal trio great looks. Arlana Henneberry had to do some work early in goal for Westhill, but the Warrior strikers were giving Stavis more issues than CCHS' were giving her. Westhill was able to break through in the 33rd minute thanks to a finish from freshman Katelyn Karleski. Jayanna Monds was able to put pressure on the Crusader defense, and the ball was eventually hit back out to a trailing Karleski on the right side, who was able to sail an open look through with 7:29 left in the half.
As the 2nd half started, you still got the feel that it was anyone's game to be had. Westhill had a 1 goal lead, and they lock teams up: but CCHS is a different animal offensively. CCHS hadn't been shut out all year - as a matter of fact, they hadn't even been held to just 1 goal all year - but Westhill is a different animal defensively. In the battle of great offense vs. great defense, the D generally trumped the O. The Crusaders were very rarely able to get the ball to Riffelbach in open space. Many of her 39 goals have come from being able to beat defenders up the field, but with her being marked at all times by a physical defender, she wasn't able to roam. Purcell occasionally got some room, but she was being hounded too. Even if she got a nice ball through, a defender was able to recover in time to clear it. On the other end, Jayanna Monds was starting to get herself going. Most of the time, one defender wasn't enough to contain her. She was able to lay a couple passes in the box, but they were knocked away. She got a couple shots off, but they were off frame. Then there was the time 3 defenders couldn't handle her. She got the ball 50 yards out, beat one defender. Kept making her run a little left of center, zig zagged through another 2 defenders. With the ball rapidly rolling toward the end line, she got her left foot on the outside of the ball and snuck it in the bottom left of goal underneath an approaching Stavis to make it 2-0 with 23:07 left. Damn, that was good. She knew it too. Walked back after she did it. No celebration. She had the 'f with me, you know I got it' look. That's when it was over. CCHS was able to get some fine looks late, but Henneberry did fine work. Purcell let a low ball rocket toward the bottom left of goal with 15 minutes and change left, but Henneberry dove to her right and knocked it out of play. On the ensuing corner, Lauren Drake got her head on it, and Henneberry made the save going to her left. Lexi Riff got one off that she saved. Tough. Westhill was able to finish the job off, getting a regular clean sheet for them but against an opponent who was far from used to the clean sheet treatment.
There's a reason they're #1 in the state. Hell, they might be the only team in the state in Class B that could shut Catholic Central out. This game showed me two things: how good Westhill is, and how far Catholic Central has come. With no disrespect to Troy and Albany, Westhill is way better. I saw those schools put a couple goals up on CCHS earlier in the season, and if CCHS was the same in November defensively as they were in September, Westhill would score 10. Their defenders came a long way, Stavis stepped up to the challenge, and they treated defense more as a team effort than a 'well, that's their job' attitude. Westhill is just so solid. They were the team to beat in Section III, Class B all year. There's a reason for it. Offensively, defensively, in goal. You really can't find a weakness, even if you're looking for one. It helps that Jayanna Monds is a stud, but their other scoring options are solid enough on their own that you can't necessarily call them a 'supporting cast'. They don't have mental lapses. Find me a team without weaknesses on the field that also doesn't ever take a play off, and I'll show you a team that has every chance of becoming a state champion. That's the Warriors for you.
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