By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — The Allegany-Limestone girls soccer team, looking to push its record back to even on the year, had Southwestern on the ropes.
Leading 3-2, the Gators were looking to survive and drag the result across the finish line with mere minutes left. But Southwestern never abandoned its pursuit.
The Trojans knotted up the game, forced overtime, and scored the winner less than four minutes into the first golden-goal period, sinking the Gators 4-3.
The result was a heartbreaker for A-L and coach Dale MacArthur who admitted, “we have a lot of work to do.”
For a grand majority of the first half, both sides took their turns inching closer to taking control. One attack after another came and went with neither coming away with anything to show for it. That was until the 22nd minute when A-L’s talisman in Madison Honeck got the hosts on the scoreboard first.
After a good ball was played into the Southwestern defense, Madison Honeck found herself the beneficiary of a number of fortunate bounces and, as composed as ever, placed her shot into the bottom right corner.
The Gators had their noses in front, but they were far from settled with the slim margin. Fortunately, five minutes later Kai Wojewoda-Ko doubled their lead on the day.
In acres of space behind the Trojan defense, Wojewoda-Ko was picked out with a brilliantly played ball from Madison Honeck, who was then able to fire a low, driven shot beyond the Southwestern goalkeeper who had come out in an attempt to close down the angle.
So far this season, Wojewoda-Ko has been A-L’s secret weapon up top as she has been able to benefit from how much effort has gone into slowing down the Honeck sisters. And according to MacArthur, she has even more room to grow.
“She’s learning the position at this level as much as anything, and she’s doing a good job learning it,” MacArthur said. “We’ve got to … try to get her working in concert with Kennedy (Honeck). … They’re both doing a good job as it is, but they’ll be more effective when they can play off each other. It’s just a matter of getting a little closer together and reading each other. But that comes with familiarity.”
Kendall Lemon (17) looks to bring the ball forward against Southwestern. (Spencer Bates)
A-L had a strong grip on the game with halftime fast approaching, but nine minutes before the break, Southwestern found a foothold as Marlana Cresanti rippled the Gator net with a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
From then on, the Trojans had eyes on a complete comeback.
After the half, Southwestern had placed the A-L penalty area under siege, denying the Gators the chance to break out from the extreme duress that it had been under.
However, the Gators did not just roll over. For a substantial portion of the half, they were able to successfully repel the Trojans, forcing them to start their surges forward over again.
Unfortunately for A-L, the dam eventually broke. With 13 minutes left in regulation Southwestern’s Makenna Johnson sent a low, driven cross across the face of the A-L goal which was clambered in by Kenzie Rogers.
But as the old adage goes, a team is at its most vulnerable immediately after scoring. And what followed Southwestern’s game-tying goal was a stretch of minutes controlled by the Gators.
Time was ticking by fast, but luckily for the hosts, its star trio of Wojewoda-Ko, Kennedy Honeck and Madison Honeck combined to put them back in front with just eight minutes left, with none other than the latter popping up to finish the move.
“There’s a lot going on out there, and we rely on (Madison) as a leader, and the other captains, to do some communication and help the others,” MacArthur said of his two-goal scorer on the night. “She talks and I think it helps the other kids know where they’re supposed to go, what to watch for, and things like that. It’s a big field, though. She can’t talk to everybody.”
Time went from going by too quickly, to not going by fast enough as A-L looked to survive with the win over its CCAA Div. I rivals. But Southwestern showed it was just as able to pull off the dramatic, as Cresanti sent the game into overtime with a late tying goal.
With two goals to her name Cresanti was the spearhead for her team and ultimately it was her, completing her hat trick with an overtime winner, that sank the Gators.
“Our shape, at times, was good. Other times, it was just not good,” MacArthur said of his team’s struggles. “It’s hard to determine sometimes why somebody is in a certain spot, but I think our shape needs to improve, and just in general, we can’t let people get behind us. That bit us tonight.”
The defeat moved the Gators to 1-3 on the season, with their next chance to get back to winning ways coming on Sept. 10 on the road at Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove at 7 p.m.
