The No. 1 Cincinnatus girls soccer team faced a familiar foe in No. 3 Bishop Ludden for the Section III Class C championship Saturday night at SUNY Cortland. The two teams met for the Class D crown at the same spot just a year ago.
The 2024 Lions took care of business in a far more dominant way, winning 4-1 and allowing the Gaelic Knights next to no chance to succeed.
“It’s crazy that this is where we were a year ago –– same team, same situation,” star senior Cassia Schuyler said. “To capitalize more this time, it proves we’re all around a great team. We love the sport and that’s why we come out and play.”
It’s Cincinnatus’ third straight sectional title and the fourth in the last six seasons a sectional tournament was played. The Lions are a perfect 20-0 this season after going 23-0-1 a season ago. Cincinnatus has won 32 straight games and gone 44 games without a loss, with the lone draw coming in a scoreless tie at CBA on Sept. 29, 2023.
The Lions came out gunning, putting Bishop Ludden under pressure early and often. The Gaelic Knights held up for most of the first half, but freshman Kendall Sustad scored the game’s first goal off a pass from Ava Larrabee with 18:43 left before halftime.
Cincinnatus head coach Lisa Sustad, who has been at the helm for all four of the recent sectional championships, had a feeling her girls would control most of the game Saturday night.
“These girls have been in a really great mood lately,” Lisa Sustad said. “They’ve been building themselves up, so I’m not surprised.”
Cincinnatus put the hammer down in the second half, with Schuyler making it 2-0 8:32 after halftime by finishing up a Larrabee free kick that hit the crossbar. Larrabee then scored from long range off a pass from Schuyler with 20:19 left and Mandi Waltz made it 4-0 with 19:08 remaining. Schuyler picked up the assist on Waltz’s goal as well.
Schuyler and her teammates felt they have made a statement this postseason that they are the best team around. The girls have heard some chatter about themselves and worked harder to reach their goals and prove people wrong.
“I don’t like to speak about it, but I feel like this year we’ve gotten a little more hate on the internet,” Schuyler said. “The fact that we took down Frankfort-Schuyler, Tully and (Saturday night) we beat them 4-1 and last year it was 1-0, I think just proves we work for what we want. It’s not luck, it’s not dirty play. We work for what we want. We play the game, we play it right and we play it with heart. That’s why we have the outcomes we have.”
Bishop Ludden’s Ashley Pawelczyk made it 4-1 by scoring on a free kick with 11:29 left.
Cincinnatus was able to salt the game away with some solid possession and timely clearances.
All five of Cincinnatus’ seniors –– Schuyler, Larrabee, Waltz, goalkeeper Sidney Glover and center back Kaedance Latta –– aided the winning effort. Schuyler, Larrabee and Waltz all recorded points, Glover made a few saves and Latta played some key minutes in back with starter Payton Gerrard banged up.
The five seniors will close their careers as three-time Section III champions and are happy to do it as a group.
“I’d say bittersweet is a good word to describe it,” Larrabee said. “It’s so exciting that we’re moving on, but it’s sad that it’s our last ever sectionals.”
“Most of us have played together since we were little,” Waltz added. “I think that just says more about it. We’re a family.”
Cincinnatus’ run will continue at 11:15 a.m. Nov. 9 at the Wright National Soccer Complex in Oneonta against Section IV Champion Elmira Notre Dame.
