No. 6 West Seneca scored on a free kick just 57 seconds into the game and never looked back on its way to a 4-0 Section VI Class AAA semifinal win over the second-seeded Red & Green at Strider Field.

The win propels the merged West Seneca team into the sectional final at 5 p.m. Saturday at West Seneca West High School against No. 1 Lancaster, which knocked off No. 5 Niagara Falls 9-0 in Monday’s other semifinal.

“They are a talented team. I was impressed with them,” Jamestown head coach Bonnie Schnars said of West Seneca. “It doesn’t matter what your rank is in Class AAA. We all play different schools so you have no idea what you are coming up against.”

Jamestown sees its season come to an end with a 7-8-1 overall record after finishing 4-5-1 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division I play.

Jamestown’s Tavion Goodlow heads the ball in front of West Seneca’s Andrew Ross during Monday’s Section VI Class AAA semifinal at Strider Field in Jamestown. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“I think we are making a lot of strides. I think we are heading in the right direction,” Schnars said. “We could’ve done a little better than we did.”

After a West Seneca player was taken down just inches outside the 18-yard box in the first minute of the game Monday, senior defender Jacob Endich stepped up to the free kick and hammered his fourth goal of the season just inside the post to the right of the Red & Green’s wall 10 yards away for a 1-0 lead.

“It deflates you really quick,” Schnars said of the early goal. “I think we did well holding them back for quite a while before they scored again, but that was definitely deflating.”

Much of the first half was played in Jamestown’s defensive end of the field and in the 27th minute, West Seneca struck again when Colten Wolowski took advantage of a bad touch inside the Red & Green’s 18-yard box and finished his third goal of the season past keeper Karson Milne for a 2-0 advantage.

“They outmuscled us. Before the game, I told them West Seneca was going to be a very physical team, they always are,” Schnars said. “They outplayed us.”

Jamestown’s Louis Yoris (2) attempts to keep the ball inbounds along the sideline in front of West Seneca’s Nick Blasak during Monday’s Section VI Class AAA semifinal at Strider Field in Jamestown. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

The score remained 2-0 through halftime, but in the third minute of the second half, Milne made two huge saves for Jamestown before a rebound from Wolowski’s shot rolled right to Ryan Weiskopff, who buried his third goal of the season.

West Seneca’s Carter Mitchell capped the scoring in the 63rd minute when he beat his defender along the goal line to Milne’s left and then slid a ball under the Jamestown keeper for his second goal of the season.

“They controlled the game in the first half for sure,” Schnars said. “In the second half we had a couple of opportunities, but we just didn’t come alive today.”

Milne was credited with 16 saves while West Seneca’s keeper, Philipp Braunschmidt was credited with six saves in the clean sheet.

West Seneca lost a pair of matchups to Lancaster in the regular season, 3-0 on Sept. 18 and 10-1 on Oct. 7.

“We played Frontier earlier this year and we lost to them, and West Seneca beat them,” Schnars said. “I knew West Seneca wasn’t going to be an easy win.”

Jamestown graduates six seniors predominantly on the defensive side of the ball. Underclassmen scored 40 of the Red & Green’s 43 goals this year.

“It’s a good group of kids. The seniors paved the way and set the tone. I think we are going to continue to be a force,” Schnars said. “There is a lot of talent coming up. … We’re looking at a pretty bright future.”