All that the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer teams was guaranteed was one head-to-head match-up, which the two neighbors and rivals would stage Friday night under the lights at the Gillette Road complex. And much like past match-ups between these two, scoring chances – and goals – would prove elusive, at least until overtime, when the Northstars broke through and managed to beat the Warriors by a 1-0 margin. Having lost in overtime to unbeaten, state no. 8-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius two nights earlier at Gillette, C-NS was bent on not facing similar disappointment against Liverpool. So for 80 minutes of regulation, the Northstars and Warriors probed and pushed. And it was C-NS getting the vast majority of scoring opportunities, but unable to get anything past Liverpool goalkeeper Tyler Lane, who put together 12 saves. By contrast, the Warriors found itself frustrated most of the time, managing just three shots all night. Still, with the game 0-0 going into overtime, it knew that just converting one opportunity would make the night worthwhile. However, Nick Bitz would send the home fans into a frenzy when, in the first OT period, he broke free and slid a shot past Lane for the game’s lone goal. All of this followed an active Wednesday evening where Liverpool and C-NS played big home games against two of their main antagonists, with the Warriors edging past defending Class AA champion Baldwinsville Northstars falling in OT to F-M by that exact same margin. Liverpool, starting a brutal stretch of the season that included C-NS, F-M and Nottingham bridging two games against B’ville (the rematch is Oct. 3 at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium), kept the Bees in check as the first half was scoreless most of the way. Then, less than four minutes before halftime, Liverpool got the ball in the far left corner of the Bees’ end. A series of passes, including one from Connor Vaughn, brought it to the point, where Sam Fuller, from 30 yards out, ripped a low shot that eluded B’ville goalie Nick Lindovski and fit just inside the left post. Protecting that one-goal lead throughout the second half, the Warriors’ defense, led by Miles Veney, Caleb Munski and Sean Rancier, closed out all of B’ville’s lanes, rarely letting Lane (who had just two saves) handle the ball too much. Vaughn, in fact, almost made it 2-0, but Lindovski made a diving, leaping save of Vaughn’s hard shot late in the second half, though all it would have done was double the winning margin. Up at Gillette, F-M, playing its fourth game in seven days, may have shown some fatigue, but even so, the Northstars’ defense was superb, bottling up the Hornets through 80 minutes of regulation and most of the 20 minutes of overtime, Matt Siegel earning seven saves. But just when it looked like the C-NS defense would get the shutout, F-M attacked once more and, with 25 seconds left in the second OT period, Anthony Kousmanidis slid a shot past Northstars goalie Matt Siegel to win it. It didn’t help the Northstars much that it had to play the night before, against Central Square, though C-NS did control the game from start to finish and shut out the Red Hawks 3-0. Lucas Roberts, with two goals, and Jason Hange, with a pair of assists, led the way for C-NS, who also got a goal from Kyle Tracy. Matt Corapi added an assist as the Northstars’ defense held Central Square to two shots all night. Once the win over Liverpool was secure, though, the Northstars cared little for the earlier struggles. Instead, it found itself 4-3-1 at the midway point of the regular season, ready for it own shot at B’ville Thursday night after going to Corcoran on Tuesday.