Though it was bound to get more difficult in September, the Chittenango boys soccer team at least entered that gauntlet carrying some momentum through winning its own kickoff tournament.
The Bears had started with a 6-0 romp over Phoenix in the Aug. 28 opening round. Two days later, in the final, Chittenango hosted Tully and rode an early goal, plus strong defense, to edge the Black Knights 1-0.
Like Chittenango, Tully had provided plenty of production in its first-round game, outscoring Oneida 7-4, but the final proved quite different as every opportunity that either side could get was precious.
And when Tommy McIntosh netted a first-half goal, the Bears had a lead that, as it turned out, would hold up. Chittenango’s back line stifled Tully, holding them to four shots, all grabbed by Noah Schnauffer.
With this 2-0 start, the Bears welcomed Christian Brothers Academy last Tuesday night, but quickly got behind and was unable to recover in a 4-1 defeat.
Even with Sean Larsson’s fist-half goal, Chittenango trailed 2-1 at halftime. Then the Brothers pulled clear, led by Ben Vlassis (two goals), Dan Melvin and Matt Potenza (each with one goal and one assist) as Schnauffer still had 12 saves.
Cazenovia played on Sept. 2 at Rome Free Academy, where it had to respond several time to the challenges of the Black Knights in order to emerge with a 3-2 victory.
The Lakers fought its way in front, 2-1, by halftime, and added another late to make sure RFA didn’t catch up as Jack Aronson got one goal and one assist.
Joe Spires and Will Harrington also converted, while Mack Naushad had an assist. Each of Ethan Baker’s five saves was important as the Black Knights stayed in it with goals by Patrick Balong and Ben Miller.
It was a lot easier for the Lakers last Tuesday night as it rolled past Phoenix 6-1. Trey Schug put Cazenovia in charge with a pair of early goals, with Spires also converting.
They stayed 3-0 until the second half, when Spires notched back-to-back goals to complete his hat trick and Mack Naushad scored, too. Along the way, four different Lakers – Logan Comfort, Liam Flannery, Brian Pezzi and Jack Filkorn – earned assists.
And this led to Saturday’s showdown with two-time defending Section III Class B champion Westhill, who had already taken a defeat to Marcellus on Aug. 30.
The Lakers would not match the Mustangs’ efforts, falling 4-1 to the Warriors as Pezzi scored in the first half, assisted by Spires, but Cazenovia got shut out from there.
Westhill built a 2-1 halftime advantage and got away late thanks to a pair of goals by Phillip Bogan and two assists from Bo BenYehuda. Charlie Bolesh and Adam Herne had the other goals.
This came a day after Chittenango’s 3-0 home defeat to those other Lakers from Skaneateles. Despite Schnauffer’s 12 saves, the Bears allowed Thomas Reed to score once and assist on goals by Will Pinckney and Andrew Moss.
