In terms of timing, the Christian Brothers Academy boys soccer team’s showdown with Fowler last Tuesday night could not have been worse.

For the state Class A no. 5-ranked Brothers, whose lone defeat this season had come to Fowler Sept. 13 in a 2-1 overtime thriller at Burnet Park, last Tuesday’s rematch at Alibrandi Stadium offered a chance to even things up before the Section III Class A playoffs – and also win a share of the OHSL Freedom National division regular-season title.

Neither would happen, though, as the Brothers, wracked by injuries on the back line, could not contain the Falcons and lost a 3-0 decision at Alibrandi Stadium.

Not only were three starting defenders and two other starters out, so was goalie Mike Smith, who had a hairline fracture in his jaw, though he is expected to return for the post-season.

Ethan Wiley replaced Smith in the net. With just one start this season, Wiley was in a tough position, but managed to make some early stops against Fowler’s relentless pressure and would finish with seven saves.

Midway through the first half, though, the Falcons seized control. In the 19th minute, Mupenzi Kubera headed Jean-Paul Mboyo’s corner kick past Wiley, and less than four minutes later the pair struck again, Kubera taking a midfield pass from Mboyo and streaking a low shot inside the right post.

Just like that, it was 2-0, and though the Brothers had a handful of chances, it never could put together a sustained attack or pressure Fowler goalie Abdullah Abdulkareem, who did make a diving stop on Matt DePerro’s shot in the 55th minute. Ghanem Ghanem added a goal with 5:57 left.

East Syracuse-Minoa, 5-7-1 going into the week, took a big blow in last Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Fulton at Spartan Stadium.

Thanks to a goal by Dan Lewis that was assisted by Chris Schiavone, the Spartans and Red Raiders were tied, 1-1, at the half. But Fulton went out in front in the second half and stayed there, Paul Reynoso and Jeff Waldron earning the goals for the victorious visitors.

Jamesville-DeWitt avoided most of this drama, though it had to make a second-half comeback in last Tuesday’s game at Chittenango to pull out a 3-1 victory over the Bears.

Adam Resetarits rescued the Red Rams after a quiet first half where Petr Byrtus scored to put Chittenango in front 1-0. Resetarits tied the game, and then put in the go-ahead goal, tacking on an insurance tally, all in the second half, for a natural hat trick. Tyler Lichstenstein assisted on one of Resetarits’ scoring plays.

Back home on Thursday, J-D smashed Mexico 6-1, getting one of its best efforts of the season on the offensive end as it scored three times in each half and spread things around.

Still, Resetarits and Lichtenstein lead the way, both of them netting a pair of goals. Tom Canfield and Dean Kousmanidis both finished with two assists as Sean Mulvihill and Spencer Sutherland also found the net. Nate Shimer added an assist.

Then the Rams won a 6-1 rematch with Chittenango on Saturday, this time not requiring any sort of comeback as it bolted out to a 4-0 halftime lead. Resetarits settled for a goal and two assists this time around as Lichtenstein and Kousmanidis each scored twice. Luca Pelligra and Jacob Brazie had the other goals as Jordan VanStry added an assist.

This left J-D at 9-4-3 going into the sectional Class A playoffs, lining up behind CBA, who topped ESM 3-2 on Saturday to finish up at 13-2, a stark contrast to the Spartans’ mark of 5-10-1.

As the no. 2 seed, the Brothers would await a quarterfinal Saturday at 6:30 at Alibrandi Stadium against no. 7 seed Fulton or no. 10 seed Whitesboro. J-D, as the no. 4 seed, goes right into the quarterfinals Friday against no. 5 seed New Hartford, starting at 3 p.m.