Yesterday, I wrote about how orderly the Section III boys soccer playoffs had been in comparison to the who's-going-to-get-surprised-next girls soccer tournament.
Here's how orderly: the lowest remaining seed is Westhill, a no. 6 in Class B. Given the Warriors' track record, that's hardly a shock, either. More on them in a minute.
As the semifinals get waged Tuesday through Thursday, we have the potential for some real classics, with each of the 20 survivors capable of capturing a banner.
The Class AA games are Wednesday at West Genesee, exactly one year to the day after Baldwinsville's overtime goal upended CNS for a second consecutive sectional title.
Naturally, the Bees and Northstars are meeting again, though B'ville neded to survive a harrowing shoot-out with CBA (on Corcoran turf, no less) just to get this far. No one has topped CNS yet this fall, and with vivid memories in a familiar setting, it's hard to imagine the Northstars falling here.
The other semifinal sees F-M go after the only team that beat them this season, Utica Proctor. No matter the result, the Raiders' two-year turnaround has been remarkable, and it's house money now, since the Hornets are expected to win it each year, and have enough talent on hand to end what has become a drought by its high standards - four years without a championship.
We have some distinct Class A semifinals on tap. Having survived wild winds and Whitesboro 1-0, top seed New Hartford will take the measure of Watertown, who has breezed so far - the Cyclones helped, in no small part, by defending champ Fulton getting knocked out early by Oneida in one of the tournament's few real upsets.
In what promises to be a fierce battle Thursday night, J-D gets Chittenango. Having needed overtime to escape Fowler, the Red Rams now look to win the rubber match with the Bears after splitting two regular-season meetnigs. The way Chittenango looked dismantling Nottingham 4-0 in the quarterfinals assures that it won't be an easy task.
Much like New Hartford, Class B top seed Clinton endured horrible weather to get a 1-0 quarterfinal win, this one over MPH. And that leads to a classic semifinal Wednesday between the Warriors and defending champion Skaneateles, who had its own 2-1 escape against Mount Markham. No doubt, Clinton will pay close attention whenever Kelly Donigan has a throw-in near the net.
Westhill waited a whole year for revenge against South Jefferson - then went to Adams and blanked the Warriors 2-0. Sweet - but it will get sweeter if the Warriors upend no. 2 seed Marcellus, who has been rock-steady since losing to Skaneateles a month ago and seek a third title in five years.
Class C saw its champ exit the scene when Bishop Grimes knocked off Fabius-Pompey in yet another one of those blasted shoot-outs. Next for the Cobras is top seed Frankfort-Schuyler, who (you guessed it) had to get through a 1-0 quarterfinal with Tully. Maybe the Cobras are more battle-tested, but they'll find out Thursday at New Hartford.
On that same field, it's Cooperstown against Bishop Ludden. Due to weather and other delays, the Redskins didn't play its quarterfinal until Thursday, but stayed patient and beat Sauquoit Valley 2-1. A better effort will be needed against Ludden, who rode a Matt Weeks hat trick past Morrisville-Eaton 5-0 in one of the few romps of the previous round.
Then there's Class D, which could have a familiar storyline. On one side is Hamilton, the defending state champs, who used wins over LaFargeville and Alexandria Bay to earn a shot at top seed Copenhagen Tuesday night at Henninger, a rematch of last year's semifinal where the Gold Knights fell.
On the other side is Poland, who was quite impressive in getting rid of McGraw 4-1, and will go to Waterville to play underrated Cincinnatus in the other semifinal.
Only the Lions might stand in the way of a fourth straight Poland-Hamilton playoff clash. Both of the Tornadoes' losses this year came to....the Emerald Knights, 1-0 each. They're kind of familiar with each other, but must get through that annoying semifinal part first...
