Unlike the girls side, where they all trek to SUNY-Cortland, the Section III boys soccer championship games spread out to different locales, depending on the participating team's geographic proximity to the turf fields that are used.
They also get spread out on the calendar. From the time Hamilton and Poland kick off tonight for the Class D title to the time F-M and Baldwnisville settle the Class AA title on Tuesday, that's five days of seeing how it all ends, banner-wise.
And Hamilton-Poland is a good place to start. This has been the focal point of Class D power in recent years, and it's the fourth straight season that one side will knock out the other, three of them in finals.
In those 11 previous games, it's split down the middle, 5-5-1. Once, the Tornadoes dominated, but after the Emerald Knights won last year's final (on the way to a state championship), it's been all Hamilton, including a pair of 1-0 verdicts early this season (one of them played at Waterville Sept. 29), Poland's lone defeats of the season.
Once the Tornadoes survived Cincinnatus 1-0 and the Emerald Knights rode Dan Kraynak's hat trick past top seed Copenhagen 3-0, we got our dream match-up. Given how cold and wet it could be, one goal could prove enough. Again.
Then we wait until Monday for the next finals. And both of them are at Herkimer County Community College, so that means trips to the east for the Class A and C finals.
First it's Class A, where the top two seeds, New Hartford and J-D, have survived. Both of them won 1-0 semifinals - the Spartans over Watertown, the Red Rams over Chittenango - and both play first-rate defense.
Five years have passed since New Hartford's only sectional title, in 2004. J-D has never won it before, despite the great work done by Joe Roach over his 34-year coaching tenure. So maybe the Rams are a sentimental favorite. There's sure to be a lot of nerves, so expect cautious play. As the Rams found out in beating Chittenango, all it takes is one mistake, and a season could end.
Right after that, it's the Class C final, featuring a pair of not-so-usual suspects in the form of Cooperstown and Bishop Grimes. Someone will win a sectional championship for the first time.
Okay, so maybe the Redskins are more familiar, since it lost to Faith Heritage in the 2007 final. Still, Coop logged an impressive 3-1 win over no. 2 seed Bishop Ludden to get this far.
Grimes is an even bigger surprise, having survived a shoot-out with defending champ Fabius-Pompey, then a 3-2 classic over top seed Frankfort-Schuyler. The key for the Cobras is to stay loose after the long bus ride, for the crowd will certainly be on Coop's side.
Move about 100 miles to the west, and you're in Camillus - at West Genesee High School, to be specific - where the Class B and AA championships will be on the line.
How can you not get excited about the first Skaneateles-Marcellus sectional final in 24 years? This fierce rivalry featured, in 2009, a power outage that interrupted a 1-1 game in the second half early in September, then a 3-1 Laker triumph in the rematch at the start of October.
As Skaneateles showed by beating top seed Clinton 2-0, and as Marcellus displayed in a 3-1 semifinal conquest of Westhill, both sides have lots of choices on offense and sound, consistent defense. Perhaps Spencer Parker (Lakers) and Tom Glose (Mustangs) are the main threats, but so many others can contribute, too, and with goalies like Jake Bird (Lakers) and Jon Quick (Mustangs), every goal will be hard-earned. Dare we think another shoot-out?
That's all they had in Class AA's epic semifinals on Wednesday - two games, stretched into the shoot-out, with one stunning result.
Baldwinsville provided the surprise, hanging on against the charges of top-ranked CNS until it could prevail 3-2 in a shoot-out. It came exactly one year to the day of the Bees topping the Northstars (on this same WG turf) in the AA finals. Yet another profound disappointment for CNS - but a chance for the younger Bees to finish off a three-peat.
Doing that requires beating F-M, who exacted revenge on Utica Proctor in the other semifinal, but needed its own 3-2 shoot-out win after a 1-1 tie to make it possible. So much will be expected of the stars like Tyler Forbes, Halie Mann and Mike Kutzer to keep B'ville on the defensive. Pull this off, and Tim Scheemaker can rightly proclaim a dynasty bathed in Baldwinsville red...
