By A pair of Section 4 girls soccer champions from Chemung County saw their seasons come to a close Saturday, Nov. 7 at Chenango Valley High School.
Elmira lost by a 1-0 score to Section 1's Arlington in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AAA regional final/state quarterfinal.
Horseheads came up short, 3-1, against Section 11's Northport in a Class AA regional final that followed.
The lone Section 4 girls team to advance to the state final four was Greene, which edged Tully, 2-1, in overtime in a Class C quarterfinal Saturday behind two goals from Miah Cragle.
Maine-Endwell lost to Section 5's Pittsford, 5-0, in Class A. Margaretville fell to Section 10's Lisbon Central, 3-1, in Class D.
Class AAA: Arlington 1, Elmira 0
Chase Harris scored the game's only goal with 29 minutes, 58 seconds remaining and the Admirals held off the Express.
A strong effort from goalie Delaney Billbe helped keep Elmira within striking distance. Express head coach Zach Sarno praised her play and that of the defense, which he said was "stellar" all season.
Arlington (14-1-5) is ranked third in Class AAA by the New York State Sports Writers Association. Elmira is ranked 24th.
Elmira finished with an 11-6 record that included a 2-1 victory over Ithaca in the Section 4 championship game. The Express' roster is predominantly underclassmen.
"You know it's always going to be a battle when you get to this level, especially when you're playing some teams that you're not familiar with," Sarno said. "I think we worked extremely hard. We left it all out here and that's all you can ask for. … I'm just proud of the girls today.
"We work hard, but we're still a growing team. Very, very young and I would say we did everything we could this year. We're going to continue to get better."
Arlington will face fellow Section 1 team Albertus Magnus in a state semifinal at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at Dryden High School.
Class AA: Northport 3, Horseheads 1
Maddie Ribble scored the game's final goal for Horseheads with 14 minutes remaining as the Blue Raiders' season came to a close after capturing a third consecutive Section 4 title.
Ava DeMarco and Caitlin Cocks scored first-half goals for the Admirals. DeMarco scored her second goal seven minutes into the second half.
Northport (16-2) will play fellow Section 11 team West Islip in a state semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at Dryden High School. Northport is ranked third in the state in Class AA.
Horseheads finished with a 10-4-2 record. The Blue Raiders are ranked 20th in New York in Class AA.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira, Horseheads fall in NYSPHSAA girls soccer regional finals
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/elmira-horseheads-fall-nysphsaa-girls-023939015.html
