ONEONTA

Vestal gave up a goal in each half and failed to knock Oneonta from the Southern Tier Athletic Conference girls soccer throne in a 2-0 championship game loss Saturday.

In the first half, neither team could control a throw-in by Oneonta’s Mariah Ruff until Taryn More tapped the ball just across the line to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Ruff had another throw-in near the endline, and a Vestal player tried to control the ball in the box, but it bounced across the goal line.

Vestal coach Bill Stepanovsky said they “needed to do a better job of winning the ball in the box. (Oneonta) played tough defensively. They did a nice job shutting down Rachel Terry, who’s kind of our go-to girl.”

Vestal went into the game looking for redemption from last year’s 1-0 loss to Oneonta in the STAC championship game.

“We need to get healthy this week and get into state play next week,” added Stepanovsky, who said the Golden Bears were without three injured starters Saturday.

Vestal advanced to the final Wednesday with its 5-0 home victory over Owego. The Yellow Jackets reached the final with a 2-1 victory at Elmira the same day.

Vestal opens Section 4 Class A play at home in semifinal against Johnson City at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Oneonta hosts Chenango Valley at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Class B quarterfinal.