Five consecutive defeats to open the season had left the West Genesee boys soccer team in a desperate search for any sort of break.
It finally arrived during last Tuesday night’s game against Oswego, where the Wildcats’ attack broke out, leading to a 3-0 victory over the Buccaneers.
This required a steady, patient effort, as WG grabbed a 1-0 first-half lead, but did not pull away until the game’s latter stages.
Zach Perkins, Peter Murphy and Luis Delasota each scored on the Wildcats’ behalf, while Tony Moradel-Romero, Ryan Alberts and Dan Levine each had one assist. WG controlled the game’s flow of play, the defense holding Oswego to three shots while taking 14.
And it didn’t take long for the second win to follow. In the opening round of the Finger Lakes Cup Friday at Skaneateles, the Lakers took it right to defending Class B champion Clinton, using a big second half to stop the Warriors 4-0.
They were 0-0 going into the second half, but once WG got on the board, it turned into a romp. Delasota twice found the net during this surge, with Perkins and Tim Ritch (later named the top defensive player of the tournament) also converting. Eric Swindon added an assist.
Put into the final Saturday against host Skaneateles, the Wildcats played on fairly even terms most of the way with the Lakers, though it still lost a 1-0 decision.
All goalie Ryan Holmeyer allowed was a second-half goal from Skaneateles’ Sam Clymer. Stopping everything else, Holmeyer watched his WG teammates get all sorts of chances, but not put it past Skaneateles keeper Erik Pola, who also had eight stops.
For its part, West Genesee’s girls team ran up against another top Class AA contender when it visited Archie Hall Stadium last Wednesday night to face Cicero-North Syracuse.
But the Wildcats lost, 3-1, to the Northstars, not able to recover from a first half, where, despite Becky Brien’s goal, C-NS got in front 2-1.
Unable to pull back even, WG got a strong effort from goalie Andrea Francisco, who made 10 saves. But she couldn’t do much about Hanna Haven, who scored twice for the Northstars and assisted on the other goal, by Marissa Rio.
On Saturday, the Wildcats bounced back by blanking Utica Proctor 4-0. WG took 29 shots overall, seeing four different players – Brien, Melissa Fumano, Brianna Corcoran and Cailyn Negus – get the four goals. Brien and Carlee Kingston added assists.
Now with a 6-2 mark, the girls Wildcats would visit Fayetteville-Manlius on Tuesday and defending Class AA champion Liverpool Thursday night, just as the WG boys take on Nottingham (who knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago) and Corcoran.
