By taking two out of three games, the Chittenango boys soccer team inched closer to securing the OHSL Freedom American division regular-season championship.
The Bears began the week by hosting Mexico and putting together one of its best offensive efforts of the season in an 8-0 shutout of the Tigers.
Four difrerent players – Mike Koegel, Corey Rivet, Andy Riddell and Dan Scavone – came up with two goals apiece, as Rivet and Koegel added single assists. To help, Greg Rohrer, Clayton Eckerlin, Chase Martin and Scott Mohr picked up one assist apiece.
In Thursday’s game at Homer, the Bears proved successful again, though by a more modest margin as it beat the Trojans 3-1.
Homer hung close for a half, as Keefe Garrett’s goal kept it 1-1. But Chittenango would take over in the late going, pushed there by Scavone, who had one goal and one assist, and Josh Bruce, who picked up a pair of assists. Koegal and Erik Szczerba had the other goals.
The win streak ended Saturday when, in the make-up of a rained-out Sept. 30 match, Chittenango lost 3-1 to state Class A no. 9-ranked Jamesville-DeWitt.
Down 1-0 at halftime, the Bears (7-6-2) got on the board with Szczerba’s unassisted goal, but could not get anything more. Kyle Coon had seven saves. The Red Rams used goals by Noel Williams, Jimmy Fazio and Austin Roney to move in front and stay there.
As for the Chittenango girls team, it faced four games in seven days, which had commenced Oct. 9 with a 0-0 draw against Homer.
Two days later, the Bears lost to defending Class A champion J-D, also by a 3-1 margin, and also the make-up of a rained-out Sept. 30 meeting. It was close much of the way, but the Red Rams used Jessica Holmes’ pair of goals to get clear. Jenna Barber notched Chittenango’s lone goal in the second half.
That brief skid halted last Tuesday, at Mexico, where the Bears blanked the Tigers 4-0. This gave Sara Pierce a chance to shine, as Pierce poured in two goals and added an assist.
Chittenango (9-4-2) led 3-0 by halftime, and Pierce got help from Kaitlin Antelmi, with her goal and two assists. Meredith Furtado added a goal as Brigid St. Leger stopped all 12 shots she faced.
The rematch with Homer came on Friday – and remarkably, this also ended 0-0. Credit the Bears’ defense for this result, as it spent much of the time fending off the Trojans’ multiple attack. St. Leger was superb in the net, recording 15 saves.
All that was left in the regular season for both Chittenango teams was to play Phoenix on Tuesday, then wait for Sunday’s announcement of the Section III Class A playoff pairings.