Kori Hamm tries to beat S.S. Seward-s Alyse Space (21) and Gladys Loyas during the first half of Saturday-s Class D state championship game at Tompkins Cortland Community College.

"It's OK, I guess," Edmeston standout Kori Hamm said of sharing the state title. "It would have been better if we won."

Up until the state final, penalty-kick shootouts are used to determine who advances if teams are tied through regulation and four overtimes. This marks the second straight season the Class D final has ended with co-champions as Chazy and Lyme played to a 0-0 tie in 2007.

Panthers senior Stefanie Cornnell had a slightly different take than Hamm. As players from both sides lined up to receive their medals following the game, Cornnell said to the drenched fans: "There's nothing wrong with co-champions."

Maybe, but for all the rain-soaked uniforms, spills, near misses and effort exerted over 1 hour and 50 minutes worth of back-and-forth soccer, it seemed something should have been decided.

"Both teams played great," said Seward coach Joe DiMattina, whose team won the Class C state title last fall and finished this season 22-0-1. "Both teams played with a lot of heart and we're co-champs. Is it like kissing your sister? I guess so, but we're coming out with a championship, whether we're sharing it or not."

For Edmeston (22-0-2), which twice failed to hold one-goal leads Saturday, it ended a five-week playoff drive during which nothing came easy.

It started with a 1-0 overtime victory at Cherry Valley-Springfield on Oct. 10 to end the regular season. Eight days later, the Panthers met CV-S again in the Tri-Valley League final and won, 2-1. Next was a 2-1 overtime squeeze past Franklin on Oct. 25 in a Section Four Class D quarterfinal.

They went on to score twice in the last 14-plus minutes to beat Jefferson, 2-0, in a sectional semifinal, then won a shootout, 3-2, against fellow unbeaten Davenport after the teams played to a 0-0 tie in the sectional final. Hamm said Saturday she thought Davenport was the best team Edmeston played this season.

Overtime victories against Section Three's Old Forge (3-2) and Section Seven's Chazy (2-1) followed in the state quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively, for the Panthers, who won a state title for the first time in program history.

"I'm just so proud of this team," said Edmeston coach Melanie Mumbulo, whose team won the school's third state title this decade, joining the 2003 boys soccer team and 2005 baseball team as Class D champions. "They just kept battling. Their personalities, they're just so fun to be around and the fact that we won just made it that much better."

Hamm, a junior who put up numbers unprecedented in school history with 42 goals and 13 assists this season, was held in check for the most part Saturday. But less-heralded teammates Amanda Belden and Alexis Brazee, both seniors, shouldered the offensive load.

Belden's eighth goal of the season and first since Edmeston's overtime win versus Franklin, gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 3 minutes, 41 seconds into play. It was likely the Panthers' best passing combination of the game. Four players touched the ball as it moved deep into Seward territory from the midfield.

From the left wing and close to the sideline, Emily Bliss switched fields by sending a long ball across. From just beyond the right side of the penalty box, Cornnell chipped a high pass back into the box. Belden, positioned about 8 yards in front of the goal and slightly to the left side, then headed it inside the right post.

"I saw where I wanted to go with it," Belden said.

With 17:13 left in the first half, the Spartans tied the score on the first of Jillian Collova's two goals. Collova, a senior forward, finished the season with a team-high 40 goals.

Both goals came on assists by freshman Danielle Stam.

The first came on what was perhaps the most glaring defensive breakdown by Edmeston this postseason.

The Panthers allowed Stam to dribble unimpeded for about 50 yards down the left side. Edmeston sweeper Taylor Ross had to challenge Stam, who centered a pass to an unmarked Collova in the middle of the field. Collova drove a hard, 15-yard shot that caromed off the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal.

"She centered it and I just one-timed it," Collova said.

Edmeston nearly got a cheap goal with four minutes left in the first half. Cornnell sent a shot from about 50 yards toward goalie Alina Greiser, who started to come out to play it but then retreated. The high ball bounced about 10 yards from the goal and took a big hop. Greiser backpedaled and reached up as the ball hit the crossbar and came back out.

About two minutes later, Edmeston took the lead again, and like the Panthers' first goal, the play originated in the midfield.

Hamm and senior Emily Slentz worked a short passing combination in the middle of the field. Near the top off the penalty box, Slentz slid a short pass to her left. Ashley Harbison, who scored the winning goal in Edmeston's victory over Chazy on Friday, raced to the ball and got there at the same time as a Seward defender.

Both kicked at it and the ball squirted forward and left to Brazee, who was unmarked about 15 yards out. Brazee then scored her first varsity goal in her last varsity game, lifting a shot inside the far post.

"I got it in there at the right time," Brazee said. "I made sure I hit the far post, because (the goalie) was at the near post. I just aimed at the far post and it went in. Honestly, I didn't think it was going in."

And there sat Edmeston, 42 minutes and change from knocking off teams on back-to-back days that won or shared state championships a year ago.

But there was also the weather, which played a major role all afternoon. Panthers junior goalie Susanna Johnson, named the game's outstanding goalie, said she changed gloves three times Saturday.

"That's why my bag weighs like 50 pounds right now," Johnson said of her water-logged gloves after the game.

With 34:08 to play, the Spartans' Vivien Greiser lined a shot from about 25 yards. The shot curved toward the left post, but Johnson was in perfect position. When the ball hit Johnson's hands, it skipped through and caromed off her body.

Stam got to the loose ball and slid a sideways pass to Collova, who finished from 12 yards into an open net to tie the score.

Thereafter, Johnson adjusted and no longer tried to catch shots. Instead, she stopped them with both hands, waited for the ball to hit the ground and then secured the rebound.

Hamm said playing in Saturday's conditions was awful, but clearly, Edmeston's season was not. The Panthers set a school record for victories and will take a 24-game unbeaten streak into next season.

"It was their time," Mumbulo said. "Sometimes, you can't explain it."

Harbison was named Edmeston's outstanding player. Collova earned the honor for Seward.

Edmeston 2, S.S. Seward 2

CLASS D STATE FINAL

Saturday at Tompkins Cortland CC

Number before team indicates section

S.S. Seward 1 1 0 0 0 0 _ 2

Edmeston 2 0 0 0 0 0 _ 2

9-S.S. Seward (22-0-1): Jillian Collova 2-0, Danielle Stam 0-2.

4-Edmeston (22-0-2): Amanda Belden 1-0, Stefanie Cornnell 0-1, Ashley Brasee 1-0, Ashley Harbison 0-1.

Shots-corner kicks: S 14-9; E 12-1.

Goalies: Alina Greiser (S) 9; Susanna Johnson (E) 9.

Outstanding players: Jillian Collova (S); Ashley Harbison (E).

Outstanding goalie: Susanna Johnson (E).

Photo by Michael Okoniewski

Edmeston senior Emily Slentz slides under Chazy-s Kirsten Doran during Friday-s Class D state semifinal at Tompkins Cortland Community College.
 

For the second straight game, Edmeston rallied from a halftime deficit behind a goal and an assist from Hamm, this time defeating 2007 Class D co-state champion Chazy, 2-1, in overtime.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," said Harbison, who scored her seventh goal of the season and first since Oct. 6 with 51 seconds left in the first 10-minute overtime to snap a 1-all tie. "It's really hard to explain."

The Panthers (22-0-1) will play Section Nine's S.S. Seward (22-0) in the Class D state final at 9 a.m. Saturday back at TC3. Seward, which won the Class C state title last season, defeated Section Five's Arkport, 2-1, on Friday in the other semifinal at Homer.

Saturday's championship game pits Class D's top two teams in the New York State Sportswriters and Coaches Organization for Girls Sports rankings. Edmeston is ranked second, one spot behind Seward.

Edmeston will make its first appearance in a girls soccer state final Saturday, a day after the Panthers played their first state semifinal game. Edmeston is on the same path as its 2003 boys soccer team, which defeated Chazy in a semifinal and Seward in the final to win the school's first state championship.

"We feel it's working out for us well and it's very, very ironic," said Johnson, whose 14 saves on this blustery day included four of the diving variety. "We're trying to focus on us, but there's pressure on us being a small school in this big tournament and having a reputation like our boys had. They were a Cinderella story out of nowhere."

If a glass slipper awaits for these Panthers, it'll be because of their ability to overcome deficits. Six days ago, Edmeston rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Section Three's Old Forge, 3-2, in overtime in a state quarterfinal.

"They always seem to find a way," said Edmeston coach Melanie Mumbulo, whose team was outshot, 16-9, and had one corner kick to Chazy's eight. "No matter if it's four shots or 20 shots, we always seem to find a way to find the back of the net. That's why we're here."

With the wind at their backs, the Eagles outshot Edmeston, 9-3, and kept the ball in the Panthers' end for the majority of the first half.

Things did not look good for the Panthers from the outset as Johnson snatched Victoria Reynolds' 8-yard volley out of the air 30 seconds into play. Johnson then made her first diving save 5:15 into play, denying Dominique Roussy.

The Eagles (17-1-2) scored 1:30 later on a play that started with a flip throw-in by freshman Caitlyn LaPier. From the right side, LaPier flipped forward and lofted a long pass over two Edmeston defenders. The ball bounced twice before Shauni Trombly volleyed a hard, 18-yard shot from the left-middle of penalty box inside the near post.

"We actually just started it last game," Chazy first-year coach Karin Sherman Trombley said of LaPier's flip throw. "She told me she could do it and we said, Let's try it.' That's how we scored our first goal, so it was nice to see it work out."

The final 34:19 of the first half featured a collection of near-misses by Chazy, excellent saves by Johnson and occasional counterattacks by Edmeston. Hamm sent two shots from the left wing just wide to the far post and Emily Bliss missed high from 15 yards in the first half.

Though Chazy took six more shots than the Panthers in the first half, almost all of them were outside the 18-yard box. Edmeston defenders kept Chazy attackers in front of them, forcing them to take long shots.

"It's really a high-stress situation when it comes inside the box," Johnson said, "so it's really nice when the defense shuts it down well and they have to shoot outside, because then you can read the spin better and you can read the wind better."

Things evened up considerably in the second half, when the wind favored Edmeston. Still, Johnson had to go horizontal again with 25:40 left to stop a shot by LaPier.

Edmeston's Denyse Schoellig nearly scored with 22 minutes left, lining a 40-yard free kick that went through the hands of leaping goalie Katherine Tooke. Though Tooke turned and caught the deflection on one hop, it would be a portend of things to come for the freshman.

With 9:14 left, Hamm set up on the left side for Edmeston's first and only corner kick. The moment it left her right foot, it looked like something big was about to happen.

Hamm started the ball about 5 yards into the field of play before it began bending hard right. Tooke leaped and got both hands on the shot, but the ball powered through and landed inside the far post for Hamm's area-best 42nd goal of the season.

Now, for a girl who has 68 goals over the past two seasons, scoring on a corner kick should be old hat, right?

"I've never scored off a corner kick," Hamm said. "It was cool."

One more special by Johnson led the Panthers into their second straight overtime game. Johnson dived to her left and caught an 18-yard, sinking liner by LaPier with less than two minutes left.

"(Johnson's) been playing like that since we played Davenport," Mumbulo said of the Panthers' 0-0 tie against the unbeaten Wildcats in the Section Four Class D final. Edmeston advanced to the state tournament with a 3-2 victory in a penalty-kick shootout. "She's just getting better and better, and she's doing some fantastic things."

Hamm again played a key role on the decisive goal. She controlled the ball about 40 yards out, took off down the left wing and drew three defenders to the left side. Just before she reached the end line, Hamm sent a low cross toward the middle of the box to an unmarked Harbison, who drove a high, 15-yard shot into the left-middle of the goal with her left foot.

"I was looking to score a goal and help my team win," Harbison said. "We deserved it."

The Panthers will face a Seward team that has outscored its opposition, 115-4, this season.

Michelle Dugan had a goal and an assist in Seward's victory over Arkport. She set up Jill Collova's goal 2:13 into the second half, then scored on a penalty kick about three minutes later to make it 2-0.

Fourth-year starting goalie Alina Greicer stopped a penalty kick by Arkport's Brittney Smith with 16 minutes left, but she was denied her 20th shutout of the season when Brianna VanScooter scored with 10 minutes left.

"I'm expecting tough competition," Hamm said.

Edmeston 2, Chazy 1

CLASS D STATE SEMIFINAL

at Tompkins Cortland Community College

Number before team indicates section

Edmeston0 1 1 0 _ 2

Chazy1 0 0 0 _ 1

4-Edmeston (22-0-1): Kori Hamm 1-1, Ashley Harbison 1-0.

7-Chazy (17-2-1): Shauni Trombly 1-0, Caitlyn LaPier 0-1.

Shots-corner kicks: E 9-1; C 16-8.

Goalies: Susanna Johnson (E) 14; Katherine Tooke (C) 3.