GENESEO — The clock has officially struck midnight for the best team in Starpoint history.
Starpoint won its first 19 games but No. 20 was the difference between advancing to states or ending the season. A 3-0 loss to Aquinas Institute, Saturday, in the Class A Far West Regional, halted the Spartans’ magical season.
This season, the Spartans set the program record for most wins in a season, won their first ECIC title since 2007 and won their first Section VI Class A title in program history.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team this year,” Starpoint head coach Kristen Casero said. “They made school history, first time ever winning a section title. They accomplished a ton, having a 19-0 record coming into Far West Regionals is, in my eyes, unheard of and a big, big deal for the girls to be proud of. At the end of the game, I just said to them, ‘We leave here today 19-1 and so does the same Aquinas team leaving 19-1.”
Aquinas scored twice in the first half to go into the break up 2-0 and put Starpoint in a place they have not been in very often this season. Out of Starpoint’s 20 games this season, this one was only the fifth time they trailed at any point in the game and the second time they trailed by multiple goals.
“We just got to pick each other up all the time,” Casero said. “At half we talked about the faith that we have in each other on the team and the camaraderie that we have had all season long. I always say that 2-0 is a real dangerous lead at half. We put one goal on the board going into it, we’re down a goal, put another one in, now it’s a tied game. So it’s really just a matter of making them feel and believe in themselves that they could have come out on top.”
At the half, Aquinas was outshooting the Spartans 7-2 with a 4-2 advantage on corners. In net, the Spartans’ Arianna Hamilton made five saves while the Little Irish keeper Briar Hinds made two saves.
The Li’l Irish added one more in the second half to get the three-goal win.
“I think all over the park we played with a lot of passion, a lot of heart,” Aquinas head coach Adam Schwartz said. “I think the girls performed extremely well in a really important match.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Spartans are scheduled to return 85 of their 93 goals from this year’s squad, including Grace Crissman, who led Section VI with 43 goals.
“We’re gonna have a solid team next year still,” Casero said. “Although I have nine seniors, five of them are starters, and we have some really really strong girls that were on my bench that unfortunately couldn’t see many minutes today but they’re definitely girls that will be able to fill those shoes.”