Greece Arcadia’s run to Class A title ends with shutout loss
CORTLAND — Greece Arcadia bailed itself out of holes before this postseason, so the Titans weren’t fazed by falling behind just 3½ minutes in Saturday’s Class A state championship soccer game.
Twelve minutes later, it was 2-0.
“I think it was the third goal,” admitted midfielder Kristen Powers, “when we realized we were in big trouble.”
How clear had that become? Crystal clear.
All-America forward Crystal Dunn scored four goals, including three in the first 21 minutes, and Rockville Centre South Side overwhelmed Arcadia, 6-0, at the State University College at Cortland for its fifth title in six years and 15th overall.
The Section VIII school’s 15 titles match the state record for all team sports — boys and girls — held by West Genesee boys lacrosse.
Dunn, a speedy and skilled senior, has committed to NCAA power North Carolina.
“They were faster than us, faster than any team we’ve seen, and they had a certain finesse that we didn’t,” said goalkeeper Jessica Sexton, a co-captain with Powers and one of three holdovers from Arcadia’s 2007 Class AA state title.
Sexton, Powers and Kristen Fellows were the only seniors playing for these young Titans.
South Side (17-0-2) led 4-0 just 20:25 into the match. Carly Beyar, who is going to Fairfield University, added two goals, including the one that made it 3-0 exactly a minute after Dunn’s 15th-minute dash.
Dunn split two defenders right of goal, dribbled into the box and cut the ball back to elude another. That put her one-on-one with Sexton and she slotted a 15-yard shot past the third-year keeper.
“She was unstoppable,” Sexton said.
Powers compared Dunn, who has played with the U.S. Under-17 national team, to Spencerport star Brittany Kinmond, but said Dunn was better.
“We haven’t seen someone that we can’t mark one-on-one and not have it work out,” Powers said. “We marked (Dunn) and it didn’t even help.”
But despite seeing its improbable run end with a loss, Arcadia (15-8) found joy in what will be invaluable experience for its younger players. The Titans were only a sixth seed in the Section V Tournament. Sexton and freshman defender Kiki Luedke were all-tournament team.
On the bus ride home, Jeff Hibbard told his team he was stepping down as coach after 10 seasons. He said he wanted to leave Arcadia with a strong nucleus whenever he departed, and that’s certainly the case now.
