If the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team felt anything resembling shame or embarrassment after its Section III Class AA title defense began with a 2-1 loss to Henninger on Sept. 1, those negative thoughts disappeared in a hurry.
For when the Northstars hosted Fayetteville-Manlius two nights later, it pushed through the Hornets’ defenses to build an early margin and held on from there to get a bit 3-2 victory over the Hornets.
F-M had won big in its Sept. 1 opener at West Genesee, but C-NS attacked from the outset and it paid off, to the tune of a 2-0 advantage by the break on goals by Cameron Houser and John Kurlya.
Those goals were needed, too, since the Hornets waged a spirited rally once the Northstars lost two players to red cards, tying it as Joe Falcone and Max Staniac both scored.
Somehow, the Northstars regained the lead late in regulation with a counterattack that Nolan Byrnes finished off with a terrific shot from an odd angle that found the net, and held on at the end. Anthony Esce was credited with an assist as goalies Nate Young and Kevin Czuba combined for seven saves.
Taking its own shot at West Genesee last Tuesday night, C-NS kept all 11 players out there, but still had to work all 80 minutes to beat the Wildcats 2-1.
Brady Engle would get a goal in each half, with Byrnes assisting on one of them, and push the Northstars to a 2-0 advantage. Young, playing the entire game in the net, made nine saves, only allowing Manny Castro’s second-half goal, but otherwise helping the team hang on. WG goalie David Wenner had a superb effort, earning 13 saves.
The C-NS Optimist Tournament followed, again with the Northstars serving as the host side against two Rochester private-school opponents. Aquinas went first, and C-NS shut out the Little Irish 3-0, waiting until the second half to put together all three of its scoring plays.
Engle converted two of those goals, with Jason Hange getting the other and Ryan Houser earning an assist. The Northstars’ defense, featuring a new group of starters after every back-line player in 2015 graduated, held Aquinas to two shots all night.
McQuaid followed on Saturday afternoon, and the Knights managed to beat C-NS by the same 2-1 margin that Henninger did. Britton Scorzelli netted a first-half goal, assisted by Zach Spenard, but McQuaid rallied with a pair of second-half tallies against Czuba, who finished with five saves.
While all this was going on, Liverpool proved that the easiest way for it to recover from its season-opening 1-0 defeat to Baldwinsville on Aug. 31 was to get right back on the field and beat some other high-quality foes.
That opportunity presented itself during the Warriors’ own tournament on Labor Day weekend, where it would take on Christian Brothers Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt – and B’ville would face some teams, too.
Starting out on Sept. 2, Liverpool would pull out a 2-1 overtime victory over CBA. Just like in the B’ville game, the Warriors fell behind in the first half thanks to an unassisted goal by the Brothers’ Alex Calkins.
Here, though, the Warriors would get even in the early stages of the second half as Ben Root netted the tying goal. Then, after one OT period was played without a result, Root returned in the second OT to put the game-winner CBA goalie Matt Buck with more than six minutes to play as Alex Dzodic and Marques Wright got assists.
A day later, it was Liverpool against J-D, and once again the Warriors gained a 2-1 victory, but it didn’t require OT.
Instead, Liverpool got on the board in the first half, maintained that 1-0 lead to intermission and then answered when Jake Socia, off a feed from Liam O’Malley, scored to get J-D on the board.
Those Liverpool goals came from Wright and Justin Lombard, with Root again getting involved by earning an assist. Shots were limited, so Ben Bowers, in the net, only had to make two direct saves.
Playing its fourth straight home game last Tuesday night, Liverpool got challenged by Nottingham, but again came out on top in a tough 1-0 decision.
Dan Salamino would register a first-half goal, and though the Bulldogs kept everything else away, it couldn’t find much room to operate with its attack. A stifling Liverpool defense limited Nottingham to just two shots all night.
Warming up for Monday night’s clash with C-NS at Gillette, the Warriors were impressive on Thursday night at Henninger, shutting out the Black Knights 2-0. Against the same side C-NS lost to on Sept. 1, Liverpool scored once in each half as Wright and Alla Hassan netted the goals, with Justin Lombard and Ian Zingaro picking up assists.
