CORTLAND — The New Hartford girls made it five Section III titles in a row Sunday and joined the school’s boys to give the Spartans a sweep of the section’s Class A soccer championships for the second year in a row.
The girls beat Jamesville-DeWitt 5-0 Sunday at SUNY-Cortland, the same score by which the boys had won against Central valley Academy the day before at Jordan-Elbridge High School.
Both New Hartford squads had been No. 1 seeds this year, and they will play back-to-back November 8 in state regional playoffs at Union-Endicott High School.
Maine-Endwell swept Section IV’s 2025 Class A titles and will oppose the Spartans in both matches with the girls playing first Saturday at 4 p.m.
In the sectional final, the Lady Spartans (16-1-1) scored first before halftime and added four goals in the second half. Elizabeth Rayhill scored two goals, Mikayla Jaros added one goal and one assist, Brian Nackley and Ella Stevenson each scored a goal for Section III’s highest scoring team.
Maddie Truax had two assists and Marisol Gadziala had one. Goalie Evie Ruggiero made one save and the Spartans shut out their championship match opponent for the second time; New Hartford beat Mexico Academy 4-0 in last year’s final, and had beaten East Syracuse-Minoa twice and Westhill in the three previous years.
Jamesville-DeWitt (13-7-0) had won five matches in a row, and plays on as an at-large entry in the state tournament. The Red Rams play at Nottingham High School November 5 against Malone’s Franklin Academy from Section X.
New Hartford finished last season as the runner-up to Pittsford-Mendon from Section V in the state tournament, and won the 2021 state title after the first in its series of sectional crowns.
Class B Marcellus and Class D Cincinnatus won Sunday’s other championship matches in Cortland.
Frankfort-Schuyler 1, Hamilton 0
The Frankfort-Schuyler Maroon Knights earned Section III’s Class C title with a third win over a higher seed Saturday, a 1-0 win over Hamilton in the championship match at SUNY-Cortland.
Frankfort-Schuyler (17-2-1), seeded sixth, had already knocked out No. 3 Mt. Markham in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Beaver River in the semis to get the final against similarly upset-minded Hamilton (14-4-2), the No. 4 seed coming off a win over No. 1 Tully in a penalty kick shootout.
The Maroon Knights had beaten the Emerald Knights 2-1 on the road early in the season and the teams had played to a scoreless draw in Frankfort on October 4.
Saturday’s showdown went scoreless into the final five minutes of regulation before sophomore Sanita Selimovic put the only goal up on the scoreboard with an assist from Ella Drennen for Frankfort-Schuyler.
“We didn’t play our best but we pulled it out,” second-year Frankfort-Schuyler Bob Haddad admitted. “The first 30 minutes weren’t great, but we got better, and the last 10 minutes, we really turned it on.”
The coach credited his players for pulling together as the match progressed.
“When they band together,” he said, “they start to motivate each other and that’s what does it.”
Eighth-grader Ella Kaleta made 12 saves for the Maroon Knights who were outshot while shutting out their ninth opponent of the season. Hamilton goalie Ellie Freeth stopped four shots.
Frankfort-Schuyler was beaten by eventual champion Cincinnatus in last year’s quarterfinals. Cincinnatus moved down this year and won Sunday’s Class D sectional final.
Hamilton competed in Class D last fall and shared a sectional title with Copenhagen which earned a spot in the state tournament by winning a shootout after overtime play concluded in a 1-1 tie.
Saturday’s victory extends the season for Frankfort-Schuyler which travels north November 4 for a sub-regional match against Section X champion St. Lawrence at Potsdam High School. St. Lawrence (12-3-1), seeded second in its section, defeated No. 1 Lisbon 2-1 in its championship match Saturday.
Tuesday’s winner advances to play a November 8 regional final against the winner of a November 6 sub-regional between Section I North Salem and Section IX Burke Catholic of Goshen. The November 8 match will be played at Wallkill or Arlington, depending on who wins two days earlier.
Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young 1, Edmeston/Morris 0
The Class D Eagles from Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young defeated Edmeston/Morris 1-0 at Sidney High School Saturday and won their first-ever Section IV title.
Issy Seamon scored the lone goal in the 66th minute as Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young (16-2-0) defeated Edmeston/Morris (12-5-0) for the third time this season.
The Eagles won 2-0 at home in September and 2-0 again two weeks ago in the Tri-Valley League tournament championship match on the Wright National Soccer Campus in Oneonta; Seamon scored four of the five goals in the three matches.
Jocelyn Bosc made six saves for the Eagles.
Richfield Springs had competed in Section III before switching to Section IV a decade and a half ago, and Owen D. Young remains a Section III school with its varsity sports combined with Richfield Springs and most competing in Section IV.
The combined Eagles continue their season in the state tournament with a regional playoff match in Syracuse on November 8 against Section III Cincinnatus at Nottingham High School. Play begins at 10 a.m.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: New Hartford girls join boys as soccer champs; Frankfort-Schuyler, Richfield win titles
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
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