Nothing would prove easy for the Chittenango boys soccer team as it endured back-to-back road tests in the first full week of October.
When the Bears went to Fulton last Tuesday afternoon, it went far beyond 80 minutes as the two sides played to a 1-1 draw.
Fulton, the defending Section III Class A champions, had been uneven this fall, but kept the OHSL Freedom division-leading Bears in check throughout a 0-0 first half.
Chittenango did get on the board in the second half, thanks to Luca Bottoni’s goal off a feed from freshman Mike Koegel. However, Fulton got the board with Andrew Kush scoring and Trevor Littler getting the assist.
They went through 20 minutes of sudden-death overtime, but could not break the tie. Zach Boswell finished with nine saves, one less than Fulton counterpart Derek Bateman.
Two days later, Chittenango went to Jamesville-DeWitt to face a team it had beaten 2-0 back on Sept. 8. But the rematch took a different turn as the Bears lost to the Red Rams 1-0.
Much had changed with J-D in the month since that initial meeting, as healthy stars like Zander El-Hindi returned and the Rams started getting some big wins, including a 2-0 upset of CBA five days before the rematch with the Bears.
Several different times in the opening minutes, Chittenango had point-blank chances to go out in front, but couldn’t score, as two different shots glanced off posts.
Then J-D’s Tom Lukow got open and beat Boswell for a goal in the 13th minute, assisted by Jimmy Fazio, and it would hold up the rest of the way.
Once the Rams’ defense adjusted, Chittenango could not generate many close chances until the final minutes, when a series of close looks drifted wide of the net. In all, the Bears took just four shots, all stopped by Zack Tanner, J-D’s sophomore goalie.
With the loss to J-D, Chittenango fell to 8-3-2 on the season (6-2-1) league, but has the luxury of playing its last three regular-season games at home, including Tuesday’s visit from Homer.
On the same day as the boys loss to J-D, the girls soccer Bears fell to Homer Thursday by that same 1-0 margin. Here, too, the only goal came in the first half, as the Trojans’ Jaclyn Yonta converted. Shannon Willey made seven saves, but Chittenango could not help her out by getting the equalizer. The Bears (3-9) meet Mexico and Cortland this week.
