The No. 1 Cincinnatus girls soccer team had to face some adversity for the first time this year to defeat No. 8 Frankfort-Schuyler 2-1 in the Section III Class C quarterfinals Thursday at Fireman’s Field.
The Lions will rematch No. 5 Tully at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at V-V-S High School in the semifinals. Cincinnatus beat Tully 6-1 on the road on Oct. 3.
Frankfort-Schuyler finished the regular season 14-2 and became the first team to take a lead on Cincinnatus all season. Ava Werczynski finished off a shot just 4:26 in to put the Maroon Knights on top.
The Cincinnatus girls didn’t waver at the sign of adversity and continued to battle against an intensely physical Frankfort-Schuyler side. The Lions have been waiting all year for this kind of pushback.
“I can speak for our whole team, we were so excited to have a challenge,” Ava Larrabee said. “We love to compete and unfortunately we don’t see that so much in the CCL, so we’re really excited to play whenever we have a challenge.”
After plenty of chances, Larrabee scored directly off a corner kick with 8:16 left in the first half. Larrabee and Cassia Schuyler each had two near misses in the 10 minutes before the goal.
Shortly after Larrabee’s first goal, the first of five yellow cards were shown. Frankfort-Schuyler’s Kyleigh Sears received the first one before halftime.
As the teams battled in the second half, the cards kept coming. Werczynski was shown one 3:04 into the second half for running into Maddie Pittsley after the ball went out of bounds, then Pittsley was shown one for a retaliatory shove.
Schuyler earned a penalty kick after being taken down in the box 2:57 into the second half and Larrabee converted. That upped the Maroon Knights’ desperation, further increasing the physicality.
Larrabee knew both goals were huge, especially given the level of competition.
“Every time we score, especially when we get into sectionals, is the best feeling,” Larrabee said. “It’s so exciting. We love to score goals when we work for it and when we earn it. Little dinky shots, we’re not too pleased with. But when we deserve the goal it’s always more exciting.”
Werczynski was given a second yellow card after running into Cincinnatus goalkeeper Sidney Glover late on a play near the net. Frankfort-Schuyler’s star senior was ejected from the game, forcing her team to play a player down and igniting the Maroon Knights’ faithful.
“We knew going into the game that they would be one of the better teams we were to face, especially because we haven’t seen it yet,” Schuyler said. “Obviously they were physical, but we are just as physical and I feel we’re strong all around the field. That showed (Thursday) when we were able to possess with anybody on the field.”
“I just know that our girls are tough all around the field and, as a whole, I feel our girls are very strong,” Cincinnatus head coach Lisa Sustad added. “I really was just hoping they didn’t get permanently hurt.”
Glover made one diving save with 22:00 left in the contest on Frankfort-Schuyler’s only true scoring opportunity while down a player.
Schuyler was awarded the game’s final card with 8:10 left, right before a few Frankfort-Schuyler parents were ejected for harassing officials.
Sustad was happy her girls came out with a win against a highly underseeded and very good team.
“Right now we’re dealing with a couple injuries and I was getting pretty nervous about this game,” Sustad said. “The girls pulled through and they worked really hard. I just didn’t know how this game was going to go. I had a nervous feeling all day about it because of things like injuries, but the girls played hard all game.”
The Lions won’t get to play at home the rest of the way, but the town travels well and the girls will get to play on a better surface starting with the game against Tully.
“My girls are really excited to get on turf,” Sustad said. “Even though we have to travel for that, my girls come alive and I love when they play on turf. It’s definitely fun to have it in our hometown, but they’re ready to go. They’re like, ‘When do we get to go on turf for practice?’ They’re so excited.”
