Though it’s gone through a fair share of early-season struggles and played its entire schedule on the road before the new Field Turf at Bragman Stadium is ready, the Cicero-North Syracuse field hockey team is beginning to find some success.
It arrived, in full force, during last weekend’s Knight Time Classic at Rome Free Academy Stadium, which included the Northstars scoring eight goals in two nights.
During last Friday’s opening-round game against New Hartford, C-NS, at 0-4 on the season, faced a crisis point, but responded to it well, rallying to beat the Spartans 4-2.
Goals by MaryKate Allesandrini and Hannah Cooke had New Hartford enjoying a 2-1 edge. The Northstars ended that enjoyment, though, with a relentless attack that produced three straight scoring plays in the final 30 minutes.
Megan Caveny and Allie Bartlett led the comeback, each of them scoring twice, with Bartlett adding an assist and Julia Parody also managing an assist.
As it turned out, Saturday’s final against host Rome Free Academy proved an easier task. C-NS blanked the Black Knights, 4-0, as Caveny scored twice more to garner tournament MVP honors, with Marie Aloi and Avery Beck also finding the net.
Julia Lantry played well in goal, too, stopping all seven RFA shots she faced. Bartlett’s first-round effort, along with strong defense from the likes of Nessa McKie and Julia McDonough, led both of them to garner All-Tournament selections.
Liverpool had its own share of early-season issues, as articulated by last Monday’s visit to Camden, where the Blue Devils took down the Warriors 3-1.
Viktoryia Tubolino put in Liverpool’s lone goal in the first half, assisted by Brianna Socker, but Camden still battled its way to a 2-1 halftime advantage, overcoming the work of Megan Evangelista, who would finish with 13 saves.
And when the Warriors couldn’t catch up in the second half, the Blue Devils, applying most of the pressure, took the opportunity to seal it with another goal. Alyssa Curtis and Sydney McGowan led Camden, each with one goal and one assist, while Abby Meagher had the other goal.
But the Warriors were finally able to break its slump Wednesday night, when it hosted defending Section III Class B champion East Syracuse-Minoa and proved quite impressive during a 3-0 shutout of the Spartans.
Attacking from the outset, Liverpool overcame ESM goalie Nina Zesky’s 13 saves, gaining a 2-0 edge by halftime. Another goal followed after the break, the Warriors getting those goals from three different players – Meghan Bailey, Gabriella Pascarella and Kelly Bergamo. Kelly Socker assisted on all three of the Warriors’ scoring plays.
Home all through this week, Liverpool would meet Auburn and Fayetteville-Manlius on back-to-back days before a Saturday clash with Baldwinsville. Meanwhile, the long C-NS road venture continues with trips to Auburn Tuesday and F-M on Saturday.
