Kendall girls nip Warsaw in semis

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Maya Rutland (13), who netted the lone goal, tries to advance the ball against Warsaw defender Morgan Hoffman during the Lady Eagles sectional semifinal win this evening at Caledonia-Mumford.

A goal in the first two minutes proved to be just enough as top seeded Kendall edged past No. 5 Warsaw 1-0 this evening in the Section V Class C2 girls soccer semifinals at Caledonia-Mumford.

Maya Rutland scored her team leading 28th goal of the season just 1:14 into the game on a rebound off an initial shot by Coralee Freitag who earned the assist.

The defending Class C2 champion Lady Eagles had a number of other good scoring opportunities, including a breakaway just a minute later, but couldn’t capitalize.

“We had a quick start to get us going in the right direction but we couldn’t capitalize again,” said Kendall Coach Pam Beres whose Lady Eagles have advanced to the sectional finals for the third year in a row.

Kendall’s Taylor ReQua (10) tries to go by Warsaw’s Emma Kate Herman.

Kendall goalie Jenna Jacob, who earned her school record 16th shutout of the season, and her defensive mates did the rest to preserve the narrow victory.

Warsaw mounted three threats in the opening half but Jacob made the save on the first and then defenders Julia Smith and Elizabeth Rath took turns making key clears to turn back the other two threats.

“Our defense worked well together as a unit and Jenna came up with some big saves in goal for us,” said Beres.

Jacob made three more key saves in the second half, one on a direct kick attempt by Warsaw which later had another shot just miss sailing across the goal mouth.

Hailee Mitchell (12) of the Lady Eagles works to advance the ball up field against Grace Wolf of the Lady Tigers.

The shutout was the 16th in 18 games for the undefeated (18-0) Lady Eagles whose defense has allowed just two goals on the season.

It marked the second straight year that Kendall has defeated Warsaw in the semifinals. The Lady Eagles blanked the Lady Tigers 3-0 last year. Kendall went on to nip Cal-Mum 2-1 in overtime in the finals.

The Lady Eagles will now defend their title by facing No. 3 South Seneca in the championship game which the Section V website has scheduled for 5 p..m. Friday at Caledonia-Mumford. South Seneca edged No. 7 Bolivar-Richburg 3-2 in the other semifinal.

Kendall’s Dallas Johncox (8) keeps the ball away from Warsaw’s Kailah Marshall.

Section VI Class B Semis

Wilson wins, Roy-Hart bows
Niagara-Orleans League champion No. 2 seed Wilson blanked No. 3 Olean 2-0 this evening in the semifinals of the Section VI Class B playoffs on goals by Rachel Senek and Kayla Neuman.

Wilson will now face No. 4 Tonawanda, a 4-2 victor over No. 16 Roy-Hart in the other semi, in the championship game on Saturday. Emma Lindke scored both goals for Roy-Hart.