A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
The Cincinnatus girls soccer team after winning their sectional semifinal game against Copenhagen. (Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
The top-seeded Cincinnatus Lady Lions survived a close game against 4th-seed Copenhagen in the Section III Class D playoff semifinals. Cincinnatus won the game after a penalty shootout. The game was played at Nottingham High School (a neutral site) Wednesday night.
The unbeaten Cincinnatus squad is also ranked 6th in the state in Class D.
Even though it didn’t show on the scoreboard, Cincinnatus dominated the possession of the ball for the majority of the game. However, they were not able to get on the scoreboard until the end of the second half.
Cincinnatus ended up taking a total of 37 shots and 9 corners in comparison to Copenhagen’s 5 shots and 14 corners.
Following a scoreless first half, Copenhagen opened up the scoreboard with a goal from senior Samantha Stokely with about 24 minutes left in the second half.
Cincinnatus kept pushing forward for the remainder of the half. Then with just 2 minutes left in the half, Cincinnatus senior Peyton Stith came in clutch as she scored the game tying goal off an assist from freshman Jocelyn Turshman. The goal pushed the game into double overtime.
After two scoreless overtime periods, both teams sent players into the penalty box to decide the outcome of the game.
Cincinnatus also ended up sending Cassia Schuyler who usually plays in midfield into the goal to play goalkeeper for the shootout.
Both teams scored on their first three penalty kicks, making it 3-3.
Copenhagen then failed on their fourth shot, while Cincinnatus made theirs to take a 4-3 lead.
Copenhagen went on to fail once again in their fifth and final shot, ultimately giving Cincinnatus the win.
Ava Larrabee, Peyton Stith, Jocelyn Turshman, and Jelsie Stafford scored all of their penalty kicks for Cincinnatus.
Unfortunately for Cincinnatus, senior defender Emma Finch went down with an injury in the second half. Finch was then taken off the field and transported to a hospital.
Cincinnatus sophomore Lucy Finch delivering the news to her family and sister Emma Finch (who was injured in the game) that they rallied back and won. (Photo provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice).
Here is a score breakdown of the game:
| Team | 1st | 2nd | OT1 | OT2 | PKs | Final |
| Cincinnatus | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1(4) |
| Copenhagen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1(3) |
With this win, Cincinnatus moves on to the sectional championship game that will be played at SUNY Cortland this Saturday (October 28th).
The Lady Lions are scheduled to play against 2nd-seed Bishop Ludden at 4pm on Saturday.
Here are some video interviews following the sectional semifinal game:
Here are some photos from Wednesday’s sectional semifinal game (photos provided by Timothy A. Bennett, Owner & Publisher of The Cortland Voice):
A special thank you goes to Visions Federal Credit Union for partnering with us to provide the greater Cortland County community with additional sports coverage
