It will be Kendall vs. Cal-Mum for a sectional soccer title again

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Maya Rutland, right, and her Lady Eagle teammates will face familiar foe Cal-Mum for the Section V Class C berth in the state playoffs on Tuesday at Hilton. She is shown her working against South Seneca’s Emily Lavarnway during Friday’s Class C2 title contest.

For the third straight year Kendall will collide with Cal-Mum with a Section V girls soccer title on the line.

After tangling for the Class CC title in each of the past two years, Kendall and Cal-Mum will clash for the Section V Class C berth in the state playoffs at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hilton.

Those two previous Class CC title encounters saw the teams trade victories as Cal-Mum won 1-0 in 2013 and Kendall 2-1 in double overtime last year.

“We have a lot of history against Cal-Mum, seeing them in sectional finals in 2013 and 2014.  It’s always a competitive match against them, so I look forward to that again this year,” said Kendall Coach Pam Beres.  “I think that the key to our success will be possessing the ball in the middle and attacking third and denying them the opportunity to win the ball.  They are a very strong team, especially winning balls out of the air.  We will have to keep the ball on the turf as much as possible, to play to our strengths.”

Kendall, which is 19-0, reached the state qualifier game for the second straight year by defeating South Seneca 4-1 Friday for the Class C2 championship. The Lady Eagles dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to Avon in last year’s state qualifier.

Amelia Patrick, shown here kicking the ball away from South Seneca’s Jenna McDonald during the C2 title game, will help anchor the Kendall defense.

Cal-Mum, which is 17-2-1, advanced by downing Gananda 3-1 for the Class C1 title.

Maya Rutland has spearheaded the Kendall offense with 29 goals and 7 assists. Taylor Rutland has added 12 goals and 10 assists, Taylor ReQua 11 goals and a team leading 22 assists and Coralee Freitag 9 goals and 5 assists.

The Lady Eagles defense has been equally steady registering 16 shutouts and allowing a total of only 3 goals to date. Goalie Jenna Jacob and her defensive mates Julia Smith, Liz Rath, Amelia Patrick, Lyndsay Wright and Andres Villalobos anchor that unit.

The Cal-Mum offense has been led by the duo of Jessica Garland (9 goals, 7 assists) and Claudia Hart (9 goals, 7 assists).

The victor will face Section VI champion Allegany-Limestone in the Far West Regional at 5 p.m. Friday at Niagara University.