Saturday was a pretty good day to be a South Kortright fan.
On the day when the Wright National Soccer Campus in Oneonta hosted six Section IV championship games, the SK boys and girls swept the Class D championships.
The boys team upset top-seeded Edmeston 2-0 in a repeat of last year’s final that secured the Rams’ fourth straight season with at least a share of the sectional title.
Then, as the players and coaches were receiving their championship medals, a roar went up from the opposite field to signal that the girls team had just won a championship of their own. Jaylee Kelly’s double-overtime winner clinched a 1-0 victory over Schenevus to give the SK girls their first title since 2016.
For the boys, it was another title but with a new face on the sideline as head coach Gary LiCalzi became a sectional champion in his first season at the helm after taking over for longtime coach Bob VanValkenburgh.
“It’s beyond humbling,” LiCalzi said. “First, you tip their cap to Edmeston. They’re just unbelievable.”
Both teams had good scoring chances early, but it was South Kortright that capitalized when Shane Edwards knocked home a loose ball in the box less than 10 minutes into play.
“That’s been something we’ve struggled with all year, starting strong. Today we started strong,” LiCalzi said. “We got that first goal and it really changed the whole tenor of the game because I thought they got some really good opportunities.”
Edmeston recovered well from the early goal and came up with several great scoring opportunities of its own. But SK keeper Brayden Sparkes was up to the task, making a number of impressive saves to keep the Rams ahead going into halftime.
“Our keeper had the game of his life today,” LiCalzi said. “Sparkes was incredible.”
Edmeston continued to have the edge in possession early in the second half and received a golden opportunity to tie the game at the 20:42 mark when a SK handball resulted in a penalty kick. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the slippery playing conditions led to a miss high over the crossbar.
Five minutes later, the Rams netted a crucial insurance goal when a cross into the box ricocheted off an Edmeston defender and into the net. Cole Thomas was given credit for the goal.
South Kortright stayed locked in defensively and held on for the final 15 minutes to secure the win. It was an impressive performance from start to finish, even more so when you consider that Edmeston defeated SK 6-3 earlier this year at the Stamford Mayor’s Cup.
LiCalzi said that his team’s experience in high-stakes games helped put them in the right mindset heading into Saturday’s contest.
“They’ve been in big games,” he said. “They’ve played in this setting many times and I just tried to establish that and make sure that they knew how to play here and they knew how to get themselves ready to come out and play hard and they did right from the beginning.“
LiCalzi knew that he had big shoes to fill coming into the year in replacing VanValkenburgh, but said that the payoff was well worth the ups and downs of the season.
“The joke I made with the boys was that Coach [VanValkenburgh] gives you the keys to this nice car and we hit the guardrails quite a few times along the way this season,” he said. “But we learned from it. It was about believing that we could keep this thing moving and keep going forward.
“I’m still kind of shocked,” he added. “At the beginning of the year I knew we’d be competitive. But to be here talking right now is pretty incredible. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty amazing.”
The girls game by comparison didn’t have as many scoring chances but more than made up for it with the drama at the end.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the second overtime, Kelly got through Schenevus’ defense for a breakaway. After being denied on the initial shot, Kelly secured the rebound and promptly deposited it into the back of the net to set off the celebration for SK.
It was the 16th goal of the season for the 8th-grader who has emerged as the Rams’ go-to offensive weapon.
“She’s a gamer,” SK coach Josh Burroughs said of Kelly. “She’s got outstanding speed, foot skills, she’s the total package. She gives us opportunities to win games. In that first overtime she had an opportunity she probably would wish she had back but she definitely capitalized on that second one and put it home for us.”
Both teams found it difficult to create quality scoring chances throughout the game. South Kortright was controlling play early on and Schenevus put on more pressure in the second half.
Each side had a quality chance in the late going. With less than 12 minutes to go in regulation, South Kortright’s Addy Eckert made a great leaping save on a shot that went off her fingertips, off the post and off the ground before finally being secured.
In the first overtime, Kelly almost ended things on a breakaway opportunity but ran out of gas and couldn’t put enough power behind her shot.
The win was indicative of how Burroughs’ team has succeeded in its playoff run: strong defense, excellent goaltending and timely scoring. It was the third straight 1-0 victory after similar wins over Charlotte Valley and Edmeston/Morris in the preceding rounds.
“We’ve been a defensive team all season,” Burroughs said. “We’ve stressed limiting other teams’ opportunities. It started with Nora Trimbell; she’s been marking the best player from the opposing team all the way through the tournament and today did a nice job on their big scorer. Our three fullbacks have been stepping up playing good soccer and Carlee [Dropp] cleans up a heck of a lot in the back. And honestly Addy’s one of the best keepers in the section so anytime something gets through, we’re confident that she’ll come away with it.
“The girls have played hard all season and to have the opportunity to make it to this game first of all is a treat,” he added. “For them to come out on top, it’s everything they deserve for the hard work and effort all season. Schenevus played a heck of a game. It came right down to that double OT but fortunate to be on the top side of things.”
Both SK teams will be back at the WNSC next Saturday for the Regional finals. The boys will face either Hamilton or Faith Heritage from Section III at 11 a.m. while the girls will take on Section III Champion Copenhagen at 1:30 p.m.
Oneonta boys fall in Class B final
The Oneonta boys fell to Chenango Forks 3-0 in the Class B final on Saturday as the Blue Devils went back-to-back as Section IV champs. It was the second time this season that the Yellowjackets fell to Forks 3-0.
“We fell a little short on a couple things today that we know that we did,” OHS coach Todd Scanlon said. “It is what it is but we lost to a good team.”
It was the end to a very successful first season as head coach for Scanlon, who took over from longtime coach Alex Brannan.
“We have a great foundation and a great platform from coach Brannan,” Scanlon said. “We had a very young team but we have good building blocks for the future. Our seniors battled, our guys just battled.
“I think people on the sidelines were saying that we weren’t going to be part of a lot of conversations and postseason play. For us to be here and for our guys to get a taste of it, it’s not a good taste right now, but it’s a taste of what’s to come for Oneonta soccer in the future.”