A quartet of girls’ games and one match on the boys’ side kick off Section V Soccer’s quarterfinal action on Thursday night.
All 17 reigning champions are in the mix this weekend, but only a dozen can repeat. More on that later.
By the time the clock strikes midnight this Saturday, 64 teams will remain in quest of the prize.
Ten undefeated teams, including seven who are unbeaten and untied will put their records on the line this weekend.
McQuaid Jesuit (14-0-2), the top seed for a second straight season in Class AA, will host RCAC foe No. 8 World of Inquiry/Edison/Franklin/SOTA on Saturday. Wayne (15-0-0), number one in Class A Boys, welcomes No. 16 Wilson/REC. Attica/Alexander (16-0-0) comes in as the three-seed in Class B1 and will face No. 6 Greece Odyssey. Avon (16-0-0), No. 1 in Class C1, starts against No. 9 Canisteo-Greenwood while Fillmore (16-0-0) will look to repeat as Class D1 champs. The Eagles open Friday against No. 8 Alfred-Almond.
Pittsford Mendon (14-0-2) has the top spot in Girls’ Class A and will host No. 8 Webster Thomas on Saturday. Haverling (B2/16-0-0) will start its title defense in Class B2 when the top-seeded Rams welcome No. 8 Attica on Friday night. Byron-Bergen (C2/16-0-0) and Fillmore (D1/16-0-0) will also look to repeat as champs. The Bees welcome No. 8 Cuba-Rushford on Friday while Fillmore (D1/16-0-0) gets No. 8 Alfred-Almond in the quarters. Gananda (C1/16-0-0) will host No. 8 in the quarter-finals.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM DENNIS JOYCE HERE.
Penfield (AA/11-4-0), Palmyra-Macedon (B1/14-1-1) and Northstar Christian (D2/14-1-1) have the other top seeds in Section V Girls’ Soccer.
Grabbing the other top seeds among the boys’ sides are Hornell (B1/13-1-1), Bishop Kearney (B2/13-1-1), Red Creek (C2/13-3) and Mount Morris (D2/10-6-0).
Irish, Tigers and Bees
Imagine this: A team closes the season with four straight wins to finish 12-4-0. That win total represents twice as many from a year ago for said team. The effort earns a fifth seed. Of the four seeds above this squad, two are reigning sectional champs and another sectional champ is among the bracket. That is the case for the Caledonia-Mumford girls’ squad. The Raiders will face No. 4 Warsaw (13-3-1), the reigning Class C1 champ, on Friday. The Tigers took both regular season meetings by counts of 1-0 and 2-1. IF the young Raiders (five sophomores and three ninth-graders in the starting lineup) can prove the third time is a charm, their prize will be a tilt with reigning C2 champ, Byron-Bergen. The Bees have outscored opponents by a combined total of 114-3 this year. IF the Raiders can make a Josh Allen-like hurdle of Justin Reid and topple Byron-Bergen, waiting on the other side of the bracket, among others, is reigning Class D2 champion Notre Dame-Batavia. And that’s not intended to overlook No. 2 Marion (14-3-0) and No. 3 Wheatland-Chili (13-2-2). (Pretty sure Raider head coach Chad Schalk – if he has any time to read this piece – has closed the device he is using, walked over to his favorite recliner and sat back to take a nap).
Fillmore’s challenge
First-year head coach Jarrett Vosburg and the Fillmore boys may understand the plight of the Cal-Mum girls. A year ago under longtime head coach Jamie Mullen, the Eagles nearly wrote a story-book ending by advancing to the NYS Class D finals. Fillmore hasn’t skipped a beat. Mitchell Ward (33 goals, 16 assists) leads an offense that has outscored opponents, 80-7. A win over Alfred-Almond in the quarters, sets up a game against either No. 4 Keshequa or No. 5 C.G. Finney. Keshequa won the Class C2 championship last year and advanced to the Far West Regional. Finney claimed the D2 title a year ago before falling to Fillmore (1-0) in the regional qualifier
Hope is a good thing
“…maybe the best of things,” as Andy Dufresne (played by Timothy Robbins) reminded us in Shawshank Redemption. For the Fillmore girls’ soccer team their belief in a repeat title takes shape in junior forward Hope Russell who leads all of Section V (Girls) with 43 goals. Fillmore won 21 straight games a year ago before falling in the NYS Class D semis. The Eagles are 16-0-0 and have a 78-4 goal-scoring advantage on opponents.
Stubborn as a mule
Trivia time: which boys’ team holds the record for the most titles in Section V history…. take a minute…maybe another. If you guessed Red Creek with 23 sectional championships, you are correct. But it’s been more than a decade since the Mules hoisted a block. A five-win team and a No. 9 seed (they were an 11-seed in 2020 and a 10-seed in 2019) a year ago, Tim McIntyre’s squad climbed to the top of C2 with 13 wins this year. The Mules scored just 19 goals in 2021. Gonzalo Dorado (11 goals), Brayden Chambers (8 goals) and Jordan Verburg (8 goals) pace an offense that has outscored opponents, 47-20 this season.
Wide-open Class A Boys
Wayne’s Eagles (15-0-0) finished off their first undefeated season since going 20-0-1 in 1969 and earned the top seed in Class A. Four more wins are needed to win the program’s first title since 1974. After battling Wilson/REC , Wayne will either get No. 8 Greece Athena (8-6-2) or No. 9 Pittford Mendon (6-8-2). The Class A field also includes No. 2 Webster Thomas (11-3-1), No. 3 Spencerport (11-4-1), No. 4, reigning champ Pittsford Sutherland (12-3-1), No. 5 Churchville-Chili (9-4-2) and No. 6 Greece Arcadia (10-4-1). Usually bulletin board material is left for opposing coaches. Here’s the thing, of Wayne’s 15 wins, four have come against teams with winning records (Class B1 Newark/9-6-1) and Penn Yan (B2/12-3-1). Wayne beat both of those teams twice. The Eagles also defeated Webster Schroeder (A/7-7-2). The reality is Jay Marino’s squad will have to do something they have not done all year: beat teams with winning records in consecutive games.
SLAP YOUR PEEPERS ON THESE:
Brighton (7-8-1) at Penfield (9-5-0) Boys Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Brighton makes the jump from Class A to AA and opens with a Penfield side that had won six straight before dropping its season finale to Webster Thomas. The Patriots defeated Brighton during that streak – one of two wins over the Bruins this season. Penfield’s Cristiano Mounnarat is as dynamic a player as there is in Section V. Brighton’s Chase Alexandre and Daniel Barraclough-Tan provide a potent duo for the Bruins.
Addison (14-3-0) at Geneseo (15-2-0) Girls 6 p.m. Friday
Geneseo, the two-seed, has one loss in its past 14 games. Addison, the seven-seed, opened the season with 12 wins in its first 13 games, but the Knights dropped two of their last four. Geneseo has allowed just six goals this season, and Caroline Capel has 11 shutouts in the Blue Devils last 13 games. Mary Claire Rollins leads Geneseo with 15 goals. Kerrigan Driskell has 18 for Addison.
Haverling (5-11-0) at Bishop Kearney/Chesterton (13-1-1) Boys 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Ezra Hoad (14 goals and 3 assists) and Zach Musso (9 goals, 5 goals) are prominent holdovers from Haverling’s 2021 squad that took an unbeaten record (22-0-0) into the state finals. The Rams had won 36 straight games at that point. How much does that championship pedigree play a role in Saturday’s matchup? Kearney goalkeeper Sam Furioso always gives the Kings a chance to win.
If it’s more player names you desire:
Anna Varland, Kee-Bu Soy and the Starting XI
Megan Fry, Zach Lasher and the Starting XI
Ella Clark, Franklin Safari and the Starting XI
Three doubleheaders are scheduled this weekend with twin bills ready for Greece Olympia on Friday (Girls at 5 p.m., Boys to follow) along with Saturday double dips at Grace and Truth (Boys at noon, Girls’ game after that) and Naples Community Park (Boys at noon, Girls after that.)
Cue the Stones, Stripes or maybe even Joey and the Boys to get the action going.
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