Following their head-to-head meeting at LeMoyne College on Sept. 17, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool boys soccer teams remained in the spotlight.
For the Northstars, that meant taking on unbeaten Nottingham Tuesday night at Gillette Field, a game that had plenty of suspense before CNS worked past the Bulldogs 2-1.
Right from the start, the Northstars’ defense hung back, determined to neutralize Nottingham’s speed up front. For a moment, that backfired when, in the 14th minute, Azmir Hisic’s long cross from the left side got headed by CNS player into his own net.
Down 1-0, the Northstars quickly tied it six minutes later as, off a long free kick from Alex Wilson, Logan Roberts sent a low shot into the net. And it remained event at 1-1 deep into the second half, even though CNS, with its deeper roster, began wearing the Bulldogs down.
In the 56th minute, Rob Spenard put the hosts in front, tipping in Roberts’ cross from the right. Despite several chances, CNS could not add to the lead, and Nottingham kept it suspenseful right until the end.
Wilson, along with Drake Garner and Rocco Lattanzio, played sound defense for much of the night, but it was goalie Charlie Willard diving to stop Almedin Bektic’s point-blank attempt with 2:45 left that preserved the win.
As this was going on, Liverpool, who had lost 3-1 to CNS in that game at LeMoyne, went to Fayetteville-Manlius and managed to play the Hornets to a 0-0 draw.
Comfortable on F-M’s new artificial turf field, the Warriors went through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime without allowing a goal. Mike Milligan, Kyle DeAngelis and Josh Yager played superbly on the back line, and Karl Miller stopped all 10 shots he faced.
