By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — With one touch of her right foot, Maya Ikewood reached a personal milestone and clinched a program-first for Palmyra-Macedon girls’ soccer.
Ikewood’s golden goal with 3:18 remaining in the first overtime touched off a celebration as the top-seeded Red Raiders claimed the 2022 Section V Class B1 title with a 1-0 victory over Aquinas.
“It feels great,” the junior midfielder/forward said. “We’ve put so much effort into this whole season. We’ve pushed each other.”
The play started along the left side when teammate Sophie Barclay made a rush of 30-plus yards. Ikewood received the ball inside the 18-yard box, took a touch with her left foot to beat an Aquinas defender and found the opposite side netting among a tangle of converging defenders.
The opposing players served as a screen of sorts on Aquinas keeper Kate Sproul.
“Their goalie couldn’t see, so there was a little opening,” Ikewood explained. “We do serves all the time in practice and like the same thing.”
92’ Maya Ikewood finds the back of the net. @palmacsports claims the B1 title. Sophie Barclay makes the run along the left wing to set up the winner. 1-0 pic.twitter.com/HpnvXyKSTj
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 29, 2022
Pal-Mac head coach Mike Karns switched Barclay with Reagan Diehl in the second half. The move was out of the ordinary.
“Reagan has played left mid all year,” Karns commented. “Sophie’s played right mid all year. That’s the first time I switched them. I’ve been trying to get both of them to drive it around the outside all year. I switch them and it was natural. What’s going on? I’ve been trying to get her to do that all year.”
Barclay drew just enough attention from the Aquinas defense to give Ikewood the most space she had inside the 18-yard box for the entire game.
“I know she’s fast,” Ikewood said of her teammate. “I know she’s getting there. I was just trying my best to get open in the middle.”
With the goal, Ikewood clinched back-to-back sectional titles for the first time in Pal-Mac girls’ history. The Red Raiders have won six titles overall and four since 2016.
The goal was also Ikewood’s 100th of her career. The 5-foot-8 forward/midfielder, who plays center back with her club team, has scored all five of Pal-Mac’s goals in the postseason.
“It is really a weird transition,” she said of going from playing defense with club to the primary goal scorer in high school. “I just give it my all, trying to press up top and capitalizing off their mistakes.”
The shutout was the second straight and 15th this season for goalkeeper Clare Boesel and the Pal-Mac defense. Boesel has not allowed more than one goal in any game this season.
Covid intervened during the 2020 season when Pal-Mac opened the campaign with 12 straight wins. An outbreak in the program forced the Red Raiders to forfeit before they had a chance to get started in the postseason.
“I wanted to try and play with nine people, but he wouldn’t let us,” Ikewood said with a smile while pointing to her coach.
Pal-Mac (17-1-1) will face Class B2 champion Haverling (19-0-0) in the NYS Far West Regional on Tuesday. Time and location of the contest are TBD. The winner faces the Section VI champion.
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