When all the activity of the 2013 regular season was done, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team had made it to the top of the CNY Counties League National division, and also appeared ready to grab the top seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Still, the Northstars could not beat Baldwinsville in either of its regular-season encounters, and that included last Thursday night’s 0-0 draw at Gillette Field.
Way back on Sept. 9, C-NS, playing for the fourth time in six days, lost a 1-0 non-league decision to the Bees at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium. Now they were at it again, the Northstars trying to halt B’ville’s eight-game win streak.
Through the first half, the two sides kept running at each other amid constant physical play. The Bees had the best scoring opportunity, though, as in the 30th minute Nick Gates sprung loose in front of the C-NS let, only to see his point-blank shot go wide.
Moving to the second half, C-NS gradually assumed control, forcing the Bees into fouls. Twice, the Northstars drew close-up free kicks, only to see Kyle Tracy’s attempts get swallowed up by B’ville keeper Nick Lindovski.
In the 62nd minute, as rain started to fall, the Bees nearly got the winning goal as Jake Gentile sent a hard shot that required Northstars goalie Morgan Miller to make a diving stop, the best of his eight saves.
But they would remain scoreless, and as the rain picked up in volume throughout the pair of 10-minute overtime periods, C-NS kept charging, putting B’ville into a defensive mode, but were unable to put in the decisive goal past Lindovski, who earned 12 saves.
Right before meeting B’ville, the Northstars first had to make it through last Tuesday night’s stressful encounter with Nottingham, a game where defense ruled and one well-timed goal proved enough to beat the Bulldogs 1-0.
C-NS and Nottingham played through most of the first half 0-0. Just when it looked like the Bulldogs would escape to the halftime break still on even terms, though, Bryan Bausinger put home a goal with one second showing on the clock.
Stunned by that, Nottingham could not recover, not able to produce many chances against a stingy Northstars defense. Morgan Miller only had to make five saves.
As that went on, Liverpool, who at no. 11 sat eight spots above no. 19 C-NS in the latest state Class AA poll, played visiting Pittsford Mendon (Section V) to a 0-0 draw.
For the most part, the Warriors avoided injury trouble, but got a severe challenge as Pittsford Mendon took more shots through the 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime. However, Cody Peck turned them all away, recording 10 saves to preserve the deadlock.
