At least through its early matches, the Cicero-North Syracuse field hockey team is setting itself as the main challenger to Baldwinsville for Section III Class A honors.
In order to confirm that status, though, the Northstars needed to be successful in last Saturday’s league opener at Fayetteville-Manlius, who had tested itself with games against Whitney Point and Cazenovia (both losses), with a win it its own Labor Day weekend tournament in between.
The Northstars had opened Aug. 31 with a 6-0 rout of Whitesboro. One week later, it was Vernon-Verona-Sherrill making the trip to Bragman Stadium and also getting shut out as C-NS prevailed by a 4-0 margin.
Constantly on the attack, the Northstars waited through a scoreless first half before breaking through just after intermission. Four different players – Katie Thies, Lindsey Hughes, Alli Bartlett and Vanessa Wilkins – earned those four goals, with Allie Ball, Jamie Snyder and Bailey Lazore earning assists.
When league play began on Saturday, though, C-NS was ready for it as it traveled to Fayetteville-Manluis and, with a pair of goals, blanked the Hornets 2-0, giving it all the momentum possible going into its clash with Baldwinsville this week.
Liverpool would get its own close-up look at Baldwinsville when the Bees visited LHS Stadium Friday night, and the Warriors put together another tremendous defensive performance, yet could not keep itself from a 1-0 loss to the Bees.
Constant first-half pressure from the Bees did not lead to anything on the board as Liverpool goalie Hannah Dombroski turned back everything. But though Dombroski made 12 saves, she could not keep Emma Brushingham from poking in the go-ahead goal in the second half.
Unable to completely dominate the flow of play, B’ville’s defense stood up whenever it was needed, and even when Liverpool did produce some shots, Hailey Boda turned them away, giving the Bees six saves.
Before that, Liverpool had started 0-1-1, having gone to Weedsport on Sept. 1 and having to settle for a 0-0 draw with that other group of Warriors.
On a grass surface quite different from the artificial surfaces it normally plays on, Liverpool still had plenty of opportunities throughout the game as it controlled the flow of play. Weedsport turned them all away, though, as goalie Mariah Quigley finished with eight saves.
