Over the past three years, the Golden Falcons have lost their second playoff game each season.

Now juniors, the Penhollow twins hope that changes this year.

Falconer got its postseason started on the right foot Tuesday with a 5-1 Class C prequarterfinal win over Randolph on a cold, blustery afternoon at Weeden Park.

The victory sends the Golden Falcons into a Friday quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 Portville. The Panthers won the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association East Division with a perfect 10-0 league record, but went just 2-4 outside the division.

Falconer’s Brailyn Paladino (25) makes a pass to a teammate while Randolph’s Sara Ploetz defends during Wednesday’s Section VI Class C prequarterfinal at Weeden Park in Randolph. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

“We need to keep up the hard work and be prepared for Friday,” Grace Penhollow said. “The way we played today, I think we’re prepared. I think it just comes down to who wants it more. … I think that’s us.”

Falconer carried play for the first 10 minutes of Tuesday’s game, with three good chances turned aside by Cardinals senior keeper Corin Carpenter before Randolph finally countered in the 14th minute. Freshman Tyra Clark slid a pass to junior Kara Leeper, who looked to have an open net to shoot at before Falconer junior defender Sarah Disbro jumped in front of the shot and saved a goal.

Less than a minute later, the Golden Falcons got on the board when Grace Penhollow found her sister open to the right side of the Cardinals’ net. Izzy Penhollow then lifted a shot toward the net that glanced off Carpenter’s fingers and fell in for a 1-0 lead.

“Our midfield decided to play defense more than I would’ve liked today,” Randolph coach Michael Carpenter said. “They needed to because it was a great team that was organized up front.”

Falconer continued to dominate possession, using short ground passes to navigate the sloppy pitch.

“This game today was one of our best with the passing and communication,” Falconer senior defender Valerie Rensel said. “This field has potholes filled with water. If you make one wrong step, you are sliding on the ground and you’ve lost the ball.”

With five minutes showing on the first-half clock, the Golden Falcons struck again when eighth-grader Brailyn Paladino stopped a Randolph clearing attempt and passed to Izzy Penhollow, who beat Carpenter low to the far post for a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals came close to getting on the board in the final minute of the half, but junior Kira Lewis’ shot with 44 seconds remaining went high, and Falconer freshman keeper Grace Lundmark covered another loose ball in the box just before Leeper could get a foot on it in the dying seconds.

Early in the second half, the Golden Falcons scored what would essentially be a put-away goal when Izzy Penhollow sent a cross into the box that was mishandled by a Randolph defender. Eighth-grader Kayla Lynn pounced on the loose ball and tapped it into the goal for a 3-0 lead.

“You want to get up, just so you can relax a little bit and then (recuperate) so you can score more,” Rensel said.

Minutes later, Cardinals sophomore Savannah Rhodes got a glorious look at the net inside the 18-yard box, but Rensel jumped in front of the shot to preserve her team’s shutout. Lewis was rewarded for her increased intensity over the next several minutes with three good looks at the goal, but either missed the net or was turned away by Lundmark each time.

“We’re averaging 20 to 30 shots per game with just one or two goals,” Michael Carpenter said. “You saw it today. We were high and wide, and we didn’t challenge the goalkeeper much.”

The Golden Falcons put the game away with a pair of goals with under 10 minutes remaining. First, sophomore Aly Davis’ corner kick was not cleared and Grace Penhollow was able to convert to make it 4-0 before Lynn got her second of the game on a cross from Grace Penhollow to make it 5-0.

Randolph put together a spirited final seven minutes and was rewarded with a goal when sophomore Natalie Philp took a sliding shot that found the back of the net with 6:01 remaining for her first goal of the season, but it proved to be too little too late.

“It’s hard to come back, especially with the wind and cold the way it is,” Michael Carpenter said. “They fought hard. I wish we would’ve gotten one early in the half. We just played a better team.”

Falconer will now hope that its experience playing in the CCAA West Division against the likes of Allegany-Limestone, Olean, Southwestern and Fredonia will mean more against Portville than its 6-9 regular season record did.

“I think the teams we’ve played have prepared us for Portville because they haven’t played those teams,” Rensel said.

NOTES: Lundmark was credited with seven saves for Falconer while Carpenter recorded six saves for Randolph. … The Cardinals finish their season 7-5-3. … Falconer won the Section VI Class B title in 2014 before losing the Far West Regional, 2-0, to Aquinas.