ONONDAGA COUNTY – Right before the Section III Class AAA playoffs started the Liverpool boys soccer team would get a full glimpse of exactly where it stood and exactly what it needed to do for a championship.
Fayetteville-Manlius would arrive Saturday afternoon for the regular-season finale, the likely two top seeds meeting again after the Hornets prevailed 2-1 the first time they met.
Remembering that result and turning it around in a big way, the Warriors took control early and never let go of it, three times solving a great F-M defense and recording a 3-0 victory.
Once Liverpool (13-2-1) got on the board in the first half it only seemed to relax, leading to another goal and a 2-0 advantage going to the break.
As the Warriors’ back line held the Hornets to just three total shots, it added one more to the margin as Dominic Paolini, with one goal and one assist, led the way.
Jared Reynolds got a goal, as did Connor Lynch, with Bobby McQuatters joining Paolini in the assist column.
Yet another 2-1 game had taken place two nights earlier, Liverpool fending off West Genesee as it matched Nathan Quirk’s second-half goal after going ahead of the Wildcats 1-0 in the first half.
Liverpool began the week by handling Corcoran/ITC 7-0 last Monday afternoon, led by the duo of Ramiz Mehmedovic and Enzo Leon, who each scored twice, Leon adding an assist.
Single goals went to Reynolds, Paolini and Jean Claude Nabwanja, with Liam Muller, Santi Scott and Christian Kritzer also earning assists.
A rematch 24 hours later went 5-0 in the Warriors’ favor, Liverpool going up 4-0 by halftime. Five different players – Scott, Lynch, Mehmedovic, Enzo Leon and Geremie Makengera – earned those goals, with Paolini joining Mehmedovic and Scott in the assist column.
Cicero-North Syracuse hoped to regain its late-season momentum lost in back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Baldiwnsville, and started to do so last Thursday when it prevailed 3-1 over Henninger.
Though only up 1-0 at halftime, the Northstars drew clear led by Dante Melfi’s pair of assists. Ryan Frisch and Evan Bonnier were credited with goals, while Tyler Munnich and Jackson Dufort combined for five saves.
Faced with its own regular-season finale Saturday against Baldwinsville, C-NS played superb defense most of the way, only to have Jack Dutter’s first-half goal hold up to help the Bees edge the Northstars 1-0.
None of C-NS’s six shots got past B’ville goalie Sawyer Barr, the Northstars falling to 6-8-1 overall.
