Wednesday afternoon, when faced with one of their biggest challenges of the year, the Bears’ defenders came through again.

Frewsburg limited Randolph’s chances for most of the game and a goal off a corner kick proved to be enough as the second-seeded Bears beat the third-seeded Cardinals 1-0 in a Section VI Class C semifinal at the Frewsburg Sports Complex.

“That game played out exactly how I thought it was going to play out,” Frewsburg head coach Scott Stone said. “They are a good, young team. They’ve been playing way better later in the season. We feel like they came in here extremely confident, like they were going to sneak out a win.”

Next up for Frewsburg, which has won the past six sectional titles, is a date with No. 1 Wilson, which knocked off No. 4 Portville 3-2 in overtime in Wednesday’s second semifinal. The championship game will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday at Allegany-Limestone Middle-High School.

Frewsburg’s Elysse Gruber and Leah Powell hug after winning their Section VI Class C semifinal against Randolph on Wednesday. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“Wilson and Portville are two phenomenal teams,” Stone said. “The game plan all year has been to get to the finals and then you have to show up on Saturday, Nov. 1 and play your absolute best game of the year. If we go play our best game, we feel like we can beat anybody.”

Randolph carried the play for much of the opening 12 minutes Wednesday, but time and time again the Cardinals were turned away by Frewsburg’s back line of senior Lyla Salvaggio, junior Ava Krofka, sophomore Leah Powell and freshman Gabriella Dumaine.

“Our four in the back were phenomenal today. We played our early nonleague games against Southwestern and Falconer, teams that have great speed and really test your defense,” Stone said. “They’ve done nothing but stay organized and get better and better all year long. Today was the same game plan. They are young back there, but they play smart and they play together. They stepped up today and that’s the reason we didn’t let them score.”

The Cardinals elected to play senior Gianna Bowles and her single-season (37) and career (88) record goal totals in a more defensive role to limit Bears junior Audrey Eckwahl. That seemed to work as space was hard to find for Eckwahl to unleash her lethal shot from distance.

“Gianna reads the game so well that she knows when she has to drop into a defensive role and does that naturally,” Randolph head coach Alexa Troutman said. “It was two of the best players in the area and fun to see them on the same field.”

Randolph’s Serena Smith attempts to get by Frewsburg’s Leah Powell (4) during Wednesday’s Section VI Class C semifinal at the Frewsburg Sports Complex. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

But Randolph freshman Ava Sears and eighth-grader Serena Smith, who combined for 23 goals on the season, were unable to capitalize offensively in Bowles’ absence up front.

“We have a couple of freshmen in that midfield. I can’t say enough about Presleigh (Stelmack) in the center-mid as a freshman. She was tracking back playing defense. Any time Bowles was in the offensive third, she was all over her not getting a shot off. … The two on the outside (Cappa and Charlie Lombardo), they just went up and down the field today,” Stone said. “Jaden Jimerson played an absolutely amazing game. She was flying all over the field. She played 80 minutes nonstop. We don’t win that game without Jaden,”

Frewsburg nearly struck first in the 14th minute when an Ellie Cappa corner kick was cleared off the Cardinals’ goal line by sophomore Kyler Patterson.

“She’s automatic. We have a couple of different plays on our corners, but she is pretty spot on every single time,” Stone said of Cappa. “Any time Audrey is in the box running free, she has a chance to put one in.”

In the 26th minute, a Jimerson cross went off the hands of Randolph sophomore keeper Harper Russell, but no other Bears were close to the rebound. Then, in the 29th minute, Eckwahl finally found a little space near the top of the 18-yard box, but her shot went high over the Randolph goal.

“It felt like a very back-and-forth game. Every girl on the field was working hard,” Troutman said. “It was a solid first half, the girls came off excited.”

After halftime, the Bears finally found the goal they would need.

Awarded a corner kick in the first minute, Cappa sent another ball into the box and Eckwahl rose up to head it into the corner of the Cardinals goal for her 35th goal of the season and 84th of her career — one short of Ava Jimerson’s program record.

“Audrey is just relentless. She’s hungry, she knew how big of a game this was,” Stone said of Eckwahl. “Big players step up in big games. The moment is never too big for her. She’s been working toward this type of game her whole life. It doesn’t surprise me that she went out there and got one.”

Randolph battled throughout the second half and was eventually awarded a long free kick in the 63rd minute. Bowles stepped up to the ball and sent a long shot toward the Frewsburg goal that looked like it might tuck in underneath the crossbar, but Bears sophomore keeper Elysse Gruber and her 5-foot-7 frame rose up to catch the ball and keep it a 1-0 game.

“I think Elysse is the best goalie in Section VI. I don’t think there’s another goalie that saves that Gianna ball,” Stone said. ” … I’d be hard-pressed to find many goalies who are going to make a play like Elysse did on that.”

The Cardinals’ final opportunity came in the 79th minute when Bowles sent a dangerous corner kick into the 18-yard-box, but again Randolph shot high of the goal before the Bears ran out the final 1:25 on the clock.

“I felt like we had some good chances there at the end, we just couldn’t put it away and tie it up,” Troutman said. “Losing Gianna will be huge, but we are definitely excited about the future for Randolph soccer.”

Frewsburg will look for its seventh straight sectional crown and ninth overall Saturday when it takes on the Lakewomen.

The Bears have beaten Wilson on their way to their last four titles, three times in the final.

“We wanted to come out and show everybody that we’re still here and to go get a patch,” Stone said, “you have to go through us.”