By PAUL GOTHAM
FARMINGTON, N.Y. — Adam Schwartz’s message was clear. Moments after winning the Section V Class A title, the Aquinas girls’ soccer coach reminded his team of their end goal.
“Three more games.”
The Li’l Irish claimed their first title since 2017, but Schwartz knows what his current squad is capable of doing.
“As we went into the postseason our goal was to win six more matches,” he said after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Pittsford Sutherland. “We set the standard high. We’ll celebrate tonight but then we’ll be back to work after the weekend’s over.”
Freshman Sienna Fallone gave Aquinas a 1-0 lead in the first half. Fellow ninth-grader Jaden Deming clinched the game with an assist from Savannah Sweet in the 76th minute.
“She scored a huge goal early on that gave us confidence,” Schwartz said of Fallone. “It’s significant to get the first goal. If you don’t, it feels like you’re chasing the game. That’s not a great place to be.”
The Li’l Irish (16-1-2) had an 11-2 advantage in shots during the first half with the wind at their backs and finished with 15 balls on frame for the game.
“The wind was a significant factor,” Schwartz said. “We ended up defending a lot of the second half, and you hate play like that. If you’re defending for too long, eventually something bad is going to happen.
“We were able to get a hold of the ball and get some attack going which was huge.”
Liz Tantalo made three saves for a seventh straight shutout including three clean sheets in sectionals.
“I felt confident collectively in our team defending. The focus was defend well, get a shutout, and we have a lot of talented players that can score. I just felt at some point we would score.”
Aquinas took a 1-0 decision when the two teams met earlier in the month.
The Knights (12-4-3) had won four straight heading into Saturday’s championship game.
“I’m beyond proud of my girls,” Sutherland head coach Adam Palumbo said. “This was our goal at the beginning of the year, to get to the sectional finals. They worked hard. They dedicated themselves throughout the summer. I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
Palumbo also pointed to the elements having an impact on the game.
“That wind in the first half was tough. We knew if we could keep it pretty close in the first half going against the wind that we would give ourselves a shot. They defended as a group. They talked. They fought together.”
Aquinas advances to the New York State Far West Regional where the Li’l Irish will play the Section VI champion either Williamsville South (16-2) or Lewiston-Porter (14-4).
“The girls have a lot of courage,” Schwartz said. “We do a lot of work in the off-season interns of strength training. We prepare the girls for these types of battles.”
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