The Milford girls soccer team took down two-time defending Class D champion Schenevus 3-0 in the quarterfinal round of the Section IV playoffs Saturday at home.
“Feels pretty awesome,” Milford coach Lexi Kane said of knocking off the defending champions. “Especially going into the next round. We needed a good win like this to go forward.”
Lexi Sutphin led the way with a pair of goals while Delaney Maison scored once, Bella Garlick had two assists and Lily Cohn had one for the Wildcats.
Bella Qua tallied 11 saves in the shutout while Leah Brundege had five in the loss for Schenevus.
Both teams got off to a slow start with few chances in the early going.
Sutphin got in front of the net and pushed one past Brundege’s reach into the left side of the net with three and a half minutes before the half to break the tie.
About a minute later, Qua denied a Schenevus scoring opportunity and Milford went into the half with a 1-0 lead and momentum on their side.
Kane emphasized the importance of scoring just before the half.
“That was huge,” she said. “That really helped the girls continue that momentum into the second half.”
Maison found space to the left of the goal and was able to find the back of the net to push the lead to 2-0 with 25:30 remaining.
About four minutes later, Sutphin scored in front of the net once again, this time pushing one off the right post to extend the lead to 3-0.
Kane was pleased with the way her team scored twice in the span of a few minutes to give themselves some breathing room.
“The girls just did not give up,” she said. “Garlick was on the ball and would not let it get past anybody and I think that constant pressure was really what helped get us those two goals.”
Kane also commended the offensive performances of Sutphin and Maison to put a few goals on the scoreboard.
“They did a really nice job,” she said. “Offensively we’ve been struggling a bit so that was huge for them today and going forward into the next round.”
The Wildcats held the lead for the remaining 20 minutes to clinch the victory and move on to the semifinals.
“Defensively really great,” Kane said when asked how her team played on the other side of the field in the shutout. “They do a really nice job of hustling back when they get beat and really containing when the ball is down there.”
Milford will take on Edmeston/Morris Wednesday at the Wright National Soccer Complex in Oneonta for the chance to play in the Class D championship.
These two teams have played a pair of games so far this season with a 1-1 tie Sept. 26 in Morris while E/M won the Tri-Valley League championship 2-0 Oct. 14 at the WNSC.
“Looking forward to just another win and making it to the sectional finals,” Kane said of what she’s looking forward to in the semifinals.
Milford 3, Schenevus 0
M … 1-2-3
S … 0-0-0
M: Lexi Sutphin 2-0, Delaney Maison 1-0, Bella Garlick 0-2, Lily Cohn 0-1
S: none
Shots-Corner Kicks: M 5-2, S 11-3
Goalies: Bella Qua (M) 11, Leah Brundege (S) 5