By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Keegan Smith finished with a hat trick, and teammate Ella Yartym added a goal as Haverling (No. 3 NYSSWA Class B) advanced to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) semifinals with a 4-0 victory over Section VI champion Southwestern (No. 10 NYSSWA B) in Far West Regional action, Saturday at Webster Schroeder High School.
Smith converted on a corner kick opportunity to start the scoring.
“Scoring in the first 10 minutes was important,” Haverling head coach Braedyn Northrup said. “That was the focus for us in practice this entire week.”
The senior midfielder then connected from 25 yards out for a 2-0 lead heading into halftime, and the Rams were on their way to back-to-back regional titles.
“It’s unbelievable,” Smith said. “Walking into this season, I was just hoping to win sectionals. We lost a lot of strong players after last year. So many young girls, we have two young eighth-graders working their butts off 24/7. I could not be any more thankful for where I am right now to have this group of girls because they put in the work every single day at practice. They’re just a good group of girls. I would not want to do it with anybody else.”
A goalkeeper for the Western New York Flash Academy, Smith will trade her Ram horns for Razorback tusks when she continues her academic and athletic careers at the University of Arkansas where she will look to stop scorers. On Saturday, she collected her fourth hat trick of the season. She has 24 goals after the effort in the state quarterfinals.
“You can put two players on Keegan,” Northrup said. “It’s not going to matter. She’s still going to touch the ball, and she’s still going to be strong enough to handle that mentally and physically.
“That first half is the best I’ve ever seen her play. That’s saying a lot because she’s a phenomenal player. She was on fire. When she plays like that, our entire team responds.”
Class B Girls @NYSPHSAA Far West Regional: HAT TRICK! Keegan Smith connects from this side of Route 104. Haverling 4-0 late in the second half. pic.twitter.com/qpUZSB9tlA
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) November 5, 2023
Smith and Yartym (a St. Bonaventure commit) have combined to score 60 of Haverling’s 72 goals this season. The duo started on varsity together as eighth graders and has led Haverling to four straight sectional titles. The regional championships were the first two in program history.
“Our goal in eighth grade was ‘let’s go win sectionals one of these years,'” Smith said. “When we did it, then it became an expectation. Now it’s an expectation we need to get to states. That’s our goal and I’m so beyond excited. I have so much faith in this teams and what they can do. I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Haverling dominated in shots on goal (8-3) and corner kicks (8-0).
“We just go the whole time,” Smith said. “It’s 100 percent, all 80 minutes, no matter what. You just go. You win the 50/50 balls. You get there first. You’re tight on their backs. You don’t let them play the style that they want. It worked today. We put in the work and came out four-zero like we wanted.”
Haverling (19-1-0) will face Section III champion Marcellus next Saturday. A 9:30 AM start time is scheduled at Cortland High School.
The Rams advanced to the state final in 2022.
Southwestern finished 16-4-1 on the season.
Leave a Reply