By HUNTER O. LYLE
After six weeks of the regular season campaign, the Section VI boy’s soccer postseason has arrived. As the four local teams enter their respective brackets, three of them will enjoy home field advantage for their first glimpse of playoff action.
Starting in the Class A2 bracket, Olean will kick off their crucible in just three days.
Led by their 19-goal-scoring senior Connor Hogle, the fall season proved to be turbulent for the Huskies, ending their schedule with a 3-10-2 overall record. Boasting the seventh seed among their A2 peers, Olean’s first postseason opponent comes as No. 10 Cheektowaga (0-16).
That contest will take place at Olean on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The winners will face No. 2 Iroquois (9-5-2) two days later in Elma at 3:30 p.m.
Moving into the Class B pool, Allegany-Limestone missed out on the top seed by a two-game margin. Chaining together a 10-0-2 stretch through the majority of their season, the Gators ended the season with a 11-2-2 overall resume, claiming the CCAA Division I title with a near-perfect 9-0-1 record – Lafayette International boasts the No. 1 spot in Class B at 12-4 overall.
On Tuesday, A-L will return to their home turf to play No. 15 Olmstead at 6 p.m., then seeing the winner of No. 7 Medina versus No. 10 Towanda on Thursday at home at 5 p.m.
Ten spots below the Gators, Salamanca is preparing to take to the road for their initial postseason matchup.
Coming into the playoffs with a 5-11 record, the Warriors claimed the 12th spot in Class B. Now faced with their own odyssey, they will most likely be playing away from home for the duration of their next campaign, starting with No. 5 Tapestry. On Tuesday, Salamanca will head north to Buffalo to see the Thunderhawks at 6 p.m. Finding a win, they will play either No. 4 Akron or No. 13 Cassadaga Valley Falconer on Thursday at the higher seed.
Finally, standing as the lone team in Class C, Portville will look to utilize a week of rest before they take to the pitch once again.
Cruising to the end of the regular season with a 9-0 blowout win over Pine Valley/Gowanda, the Panthers secured the fourth seed in the bracket with a 8-3-3 overall record and second-best 7-2-1 CCAA Division II record. On Thursday, they will see a familiar face across the field as they welcome their league rivals Randolph to town.
Throughout their two regular season meetings, Portville split the series with the now-fifth-ranked Cardinals (9-5-2 overall), losing the initial head-to-head 3-0 before responding with a 2-0 win less than a week later. The third volume of the trilogy will take place at Allegany-Limestone on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The winner will see whoever emerges from No. 1 Wilson’s contest with either No. 6 Silver Creek or No. 9 Frewsburg.
The full Section VI brackets are listed below:
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