PENDLETON — The clock hit zero, the horn sounded and the cold temperatures completely disappeared for the Starpoint Spartans as they flew onto the field to celebrate perhaps the program’s biggest win to date.
With a 3-0 victory over No. 4 East Aurora, the top-seeded Spartans are heading to the Section VI Class A title game for the first time in program history. The Spartans have already accomplished one goal this season by winning the ECIC for their first league title since 2007. The team’s 18 wins are also a program record.
“It means a lot. I’m excited for my team and I’m so proud of us and all we’ve accomplished this whole season,” Spartans senior Grace Crissman said. “A few years ago, when I was a freshman, we got knocked out of the semis and so this is definitely special and I’m excited and looking forward to Saturday.”
The Spartans pushed for the opening early and they were rewarded when Grace Crissman fired one in from on top of the box that squeaked its way in to push the lead out to 1-0 with 21:50 to go in the opening half.
The first time the two teams played back on Oct. 7, the Spartans scored four goals in the first half as part of a 7-0 win. In comparison, the Blue Devils held the Spartans to one goal in the opening 40 minutes and three goals total.
“They pretty much put nine in the back for us,” Starpoint head coach Kristen Casero said. “So we knew that it was going to be where we had to get quick passes and quick shots off immediately, with adding so many defenders like that, they just built a wall for us and we couldn’t break through the middle. But once we started to separate them and pick up on their play, that’s where we got our goals.”
The score stayed that way all the way until late in the second half when the Spartans’ Avery Casero scored to make it 2-0. After waiting almost 50 minutes to double their lead, the Spartans took advantage of what Casero called a discouraged opponent, scoring only four minutes later to end the game and send the hosts onto the Section VI Class A title game.
Lew-Port 3 Iroquois 2 (2OT)
The Lewiston-Porter girls soccer team has a chance to make history after a 3-2 double overtime win over Iroquois in Section VI Class A semifinals, Monday, at Iroquois High School.
Not only are the third-seeded Lancers chasing their seventh championship in eight seasons, but they can be the first Class A team to three-peat since Williamsville South won three in a row from 2011-2013. Lew-Port has bounced between Class A and Class B during its current run.
Lew-Port’s’ Elisabeth Gray scored two goals, including the overtime winner, to give her 18 goals on the season. The other Lancers’ goal was scored by Lauren Toohey, who also added an assist. The two goals for the Red Hawks were scored by Olivia Spanitz and Grace Dobmeier.
The Lancers will now face off against Starpoint in the Section VI Class A Championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday at Williamsville North.
Frontier 3 Lockport 2
Last season, the Lockport Lions and Frontier Falcons faced off with a trip to the Section VI semifinals on the line and the Lions got a 3-2 overtime win.
This year was different. This year, the No. 3 Falcons were able to hang on for a 2-1 win over the second-seeded Lions for their first-ever trip to the Section VI championship game, Monday at Lockport High School.
“I would like to say it means everything but you know it darn near means everything,” Frontier head coach Ronald Sporyz said. “That’s what it means to me, to bounce back after last year, play the same team that broke our hearts last year, to come in, go down early with a player and battle the way they did. It’s just an impressive win by that team without a doubt.”
The entire tenor of the game could have changed in the host’s favor midway through the opening half when Frontier’s Gianna Fuller swung on Lockport’s Camryn Cummings and after a discussion between the officials, Fuller was shown a straight red card. The red card means Fuller is suspended for the championship game. After the game, Sporyz told his team how proud he was of them rising to the occasion and not folding after the red card.
Despite playing a player down, the visitors were the ones who struck first, thanks to Amodeo, to give her team a 1-0 lead with 27:46 to go in the first half. Amodeo gave her team the cushion they needed early in the second half to take a 2-0 lead.
“I told the girls that we needed to score the first one and it just didn’t happen. So I kind of feel like it deflated us,” Lockport head coach Anthony Pellicano said.
The Lions did not lie down from there, though, and with five minutes to go in the game, Ava Pasceri took advantage of a defender slipping and got in and fired one home to make it a one-goal game once again.
Throughout the match, the Falcons used their speed to keep up with the Lions, who came in having scored 58 goals in 17 games, and prevented them from getting clean looks on net. Pellicano admitted that his team struggled to break down their defense when the Falcons threw multiple players back.
The Falcons will now await the winner of the other semifinal between Clarence and Orchard Park at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1. Lockport finished the season at 15-3 overall.