Sheets of pouring rain delayed the start of the Rye girls soccer team’s state semifinal Saturday at Cortland. Mother nature may be the only thing that can slow the Garnets’ march to another Class A state title.
Rye beat Schalmont 5-0 to advance to Sunday’s championship game against Aquinas Institute. With a win, the Garnets will claim their second state title in three years.
Saturday’s rout of the Section 2 champions proved once again this undefeated Garnets squad (21-0-3) is on a mission. The Section 1 champions have allowed just six goals all season, and the Sabres (19-3) rarely threatened to add to that total. Rye has outscored its three state tournament opponents by a combined margin of 10-0.
Seven minutes in, freshman Harkin Brown redirected a free kick to junior Charlotte Keenan for the game’s first goal. Five minutes later, a lightning strike delayed play for a half hour.
When the game resumed, it was the Garnets’ turn to strike. Three minutes before halftime, Keenan fed senior Sam Yeh to make it 2-0. The two-goal lead held until midway through the second half, but Schalmont had limited subs and began to wear down late.
With 23 minutes left, junior Shira Rand centered a ball to Brown, who one-timed it into the back of the net. Just 30 seconds later, sophomore Hannah Jachman delivered the goal of the game on a strike from 25 yards out to make it 4-0.
Senior Alessia MacKinnon put the finishing touches on the rout with 16 minutes remaining, scoring on another assist from Rand.
Rye’s opponent for Sunday’s 3 p.m. championship game is Aquinas (20-1), which beat New Hartford 2-1 in Saturday’s other semifinal. The Rochester school’s only loss came more than a month ago on Oct. 10. The Garnets, however, have now gone an entire calendar year without a loss, returning to the title game after falling to New Hartford in the state semifinal round a season ago.
