Simply put, the two Jamesville-DeWitt girls soccer seniors responsible for four straight Section III Class A titles did not want to leave until they experienced the state final four. With the Red Rams trailing Massena in Saturday’s Class A regional final at SUNY-Canton, Jessica Holmes and Maddy Devereaux took over and made the crucial scoring plays that led to a 2-1 victory over the Red Raiders. By prevailing, J-D advances to next Saturday’s state semifinal at SUNY-Cortland, where it will face Section V champion Brighton at 5 p.m. The championship game is next Sunday at 4 p.m. on that same Cortland turf. It had appeared that the Rams cleared its biggest hurdle back on Tuesday when it knocked off Section II power Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 1-0 in the first round of the regional playoffs, avenging three straight regional defeats to the Spartans. But as it turned out, Massena was far from an easy mark. Through a scoreless first half, J-D was passive, unable to do much against a stubborn Red Raiders defense. Then the urgency grew five minutes into the second half, when Massena’s Dominique Valancius slipped a shot past J-D goalie Allie Butler. It was the first time the Rams had allowed a goal since the sectional semifinals against Camden. Instead of panicking, though, the Rams continued to probe – and broke through in the 59th minute when Holmes, from the right side, crushed a hard shot that slipped out of the Massena goalie’s hands and found the net, tying it 1-1. In the 66th minute, J-D attacked again. This time, it was Devereaux finding space just outside the penalty area and, from 20 yards out, ripping in the go-ahead goal. J-D’s defense, so strong throughout the post-season prevented Massena from getting back even, and the Red Rams, for the first time in the program’s history, have made it to the final weekend of the season.