By CARSON WERNER
For the second time in two years, the Bath-Haverling Rams and Palmyra-Macedon Red Raiders find themselves facing one another in a high-stakes match: winner advances to the state tournament and the other goes home. Last season, Bath moved on with a 2-0 victory. This year, the Rams enter Tuesday’s contest unbeaten and the Red-Raiders have not lost since early September. Here’s the breakdown:
Class B1 champions PALMYRA-MACEDON RED RAIDERS (17-2-0/Finger Lakes East) vs. Class B2 champions BATH-HAVERLING RAMS (19-0-0/LCAA Division I)
How they got here: Pal-Mac (No.14 NYSSWA) shut out No. 8 Penn Yan 4-0 in the quarterfinals after a first round bye. In the semis, Pal-Mac ended No.5 Greece Olympia’s season with a 3-1 win and later claimed the Class B1 title with a 2-1 win over No.2 Geneva. Bath-Haverling (No.1 NYSSWA) defeated No.8 Wayland-Cohocton and No.4 World Of Inquiry School #58 to snag a spot in the championship round. The Rams won the Class B2 crown with a 4-nil victory over No.7 Bishop Kearney.
Total goals scored: Pal-Mac (65), Bath-Haverling (82)
Total goals allowed: Pal-Mac (14), Bath-Haverling (9)
Trends: After losing two games in the first three games of the season, Pal-Mac has won 16 in a row. The Red Raiders have only given up three goals in its past nine matches while scoring 36 over that span. Bath-Haverling gave up its first goal in eight games in the semifinal match against WOIS. The Rams have outscored its opponents 13-1 in three matches this postseason.
Names to know: Pal-Mac — Sam Quick (14 goals, 10 assists), Aidan Quinn (nine goals, seven assists), Jace Schafer (10 goals, three assists), Jan Simunic (nine goals), German Villatoro (nine goals), Cody Johnson (two goals, 13 assists), Alex Wadsworth (113 saves in 1531 minutes).
Bath-Haverling — Thomas Binkowski (29 goals, 17 assists), Lorenzo Serafini (13 goals, one assist), Keefer Calkins (11 goals, eight assists), Sam Arnts (seven goals, two assists), Jordan Deats (75 saves in 1,518 minutes in goal, 0.474 goals against average).
Coaches: Chris Mahnke (Pal-Mac), Matt Hill (Bath-Haverling)
History 101: Bath-Haverling is coming off winning its 17th sectional title. The Rams are looking to make their second straight trip to the NYS Class B Far Wes Regional. Bath also made back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and 2011. Pal-Mac has won three sectional titles. The Red Raiders also shared the 1997 Class B crown.
What’s at stake: A spot in the NYS Class B Far West Regional against the Section VI representative either Lackawanna (18-3-0) or Eden (14-5-1).
A 6:30 PM start time is scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 5 at Penn Yan.
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