Propelled to no. 3 in last week’s state Class B rankings by a big win over a long-time rival, the Marcelllus boys soccer team had to put its full attention to taking down another of its neighborly adversaries.
Skaneateles arrived last Wednesday night, bent on ending the Mustangs’ nine-game win streak- and it did so, rallying in the second half to claim a thrilling 3-2 decision.
The threat the Lakers posed was obvious from the outset as it made several runs right at the Marcellus defense. That work paid off in the 16th minute when a long pass from Landon Hellwig found Tylar Moss, who sped up the middle and beat Mustangs goalie Cory Gangemi one-on-one.
This didn’t rattle Marcellus, who controlled the game’s middle stages. It pulled even in the 31st minute when Ryan Lundrigan’s shot off Tristan Jarvi’s corner kick deflected off a Skaneateles defender and found the net.
Nine minutes into the second half, Jarvi put the Mustangs in front, 2-1, off a great feed from Dakota Baker, but Marcellus had several more good chances, only to get turned away, Lakers goalie Andrew Neumann making a series of tough stops.
Moss helped Skaneateles turn it around by assisting on Owen Cheney’s goal midway through the second half and, less than four minutes later, beat two defenders on a long run and passed it to Colin Gaglione, whose curving shot found the top left corner of the net.
Then the Lakers did a solid job of possession throughout the game’s final 16-plus minutes, and then defended a final free kick taken by Gangemi as the clock ran out.
As a tune-up, Skaneateles went to Jordan-Elbridge last Monday and pummeled the Eagles 7-0, with Moss again the focal point of the attack thanks to his season-best four assists to go with a lone goal.
Gaglione had a big night, too, scoring twice and getting a pair of assists. Cheney also got two goals as Hellwig and Brendan Powers earned the other goals. J-E goalie Keegan Ferris stopped all seven shots he faced.
That same night, Marcellus went to Corcoran, where it netted three goals in the first half and went on to defeat the Cougars 4-2.
Matt Kershaw led the Mustangs, scoring twice, with single goals going to Brett Beal and Marcelo Suarez, who also joined Steve Matro and Ryan Worden in the assist column.
Skaneateles could not relax after the big win over Marcellus, for it would host its annual Finger Lakes Cup on Friday and Saturday.
The opening round pitted the Lakers against St. Francis (Buffalo), who prevailed 1-0 despite Skaneateles having all kinds of chances, taking 15 shots but seeing the Red Raiders use a shot deflected off a Lakers defender to score the lone goal of the night.
So it was the Lakers against Rochester Aquinas in the consolation game, and Skaneateles prevailed 4-3, again carried by Moss, who notched two goals and assisted on tallies by Cheney and Cooper Purdy. Henninger beat St. Francis 1-0 in the championship game.
After the loss to Skaneateles, Marcellus would face Bishop Grimes on Saturday and take its second consecutive defeat, falling to the Cobras 3-1.
Even though Matt Kershaw scored in the second half off a feed from Jarvi, it did not make up for Grimes speeding to a 2-0 first-half advantage. Byam Mugushu scored twice for the Cobras, while Deng Mawien had one goal and one assist.
Following its loss to Skaneateles, J-E rebounded and blanked Onondaga 6-0 a day later. It was Michael Meyer leading the way as he got a three-goal hat trick, with Kevin Chiaramonte adding two goals and two assists. Keegan Ferris had the other goal as Owen Barrigar and Michael Bennink earned single assists.
