The Marathon boys soccer team and Groton girls soccer team will be entering sectionals off an IAC championship victory, while the Dryden boys soccer team will look to even its record in the first round.
Marathon beat Odessa-Montour 4-0 for the league title Saturday and earned itself a week off. The Olympians are the No. 3 seed in the Section IV Class C tournament after a 12-2-1 regular season and will face the winner of No. 6 Oxford (9-3) and No. 11 Delhi (6-8-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Marathon’s offense is led by Aydan Brown, Colton Oram and Barrett Trabucco. The trio all recorded points in the IAC title game and have been consistent threats all year. Robbie Anderson and Nash Coleman have also been steady in back in front of goalkeeper Daniel Merihew.
Marathon head coach Aubrey Brown was happy his guys could win a league title before making a run at a Section IV championship.
“That was one of our goals, so we wanted to have a championship and build off of there,” Aubrey Brown said. “Then, maybe, if things fall our way, we can get a bigger one. It gives them a little taste and hopefully can keep them hungry so we can take care of business and play a full 80 minutes.”
Aubrey Brown wasn’t too concerned with where his team fell in the bracket. He knows the Olympians will have to beat top competition to win a sectional title anyway.
“The important thing is just getting in,” Aubrey Brown said. “Once you get in it doesn’t really matter what number is in front of you because in order to get where you want to get, you have to play good teams anyway. I don’t look too much into it.”
The Groton girls (11-3-1) beat Tioga 2-1 in overtime for the league title to avenge two of its three losses on the season. The No. 4 Red Hawks will face No. 13 Seton Catholic (1-12) at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ross Field. The winner will face the winner of No. 5 Unatego (11-3-1) and No. 12 Newfield at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Groton is a balanced team, but Devyn Blasz runs the show in the middle. Her and center back Jill Zigenfus make the train run and goalkeeper Stella Holl is steady in back.
Groton head coach Jocelyn Lathers is very happy her girls have a top four seed and a chance to control home field into the semifinals.
“I knew we would probably have a good chance at seeing a home game for the first round of sectionals, but when I saw the opportunity to have back-to-back home games, it just reinforced everything that these girls work for,” Lathers said. “It’s an overwhelming feeling of pride.”
Lathers feels the win over Tioga has the Red Hawks as confident as ever entering the postseason.
“After our win Saturday, we are definitely flying high and feeling motivated and encouraged as we head to sectionals on Tuesday,” Lathers said. “But as always, we view every game as a new opportunity and we never let any wins get to our head. Each game is a fresh battle and we have to work for it. Overall, I’m feeling very strongly about the team, about our chemistry and about our renewed aggression.”
Dryden (7-8) is the No. 8 seed in Class B and will face No. 9 Sidney (6-7) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at home. The winner will travel to No. 1 Chenango Forks (11-2-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Lions are very reliant on its top two players in Paul Busby and Luke Eshelman. Busby has gone for 19 goals and five assists this season and Eshelman has 13 goals and an assist. Peter Nydam has been a distributor and facilitator in the middle of the field with a goal and three assists as well. Braden Allen has also been steady in goal for most of the season.
