Though both the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool boys soccer teams are headed toward their annual appearances in the Section III Class AA playoffs, they both got there facing different questions about whether they had the goods for a championship run.
Neither side stumbled in last Tuesday night’s action, as the Northstars blanked Central Square 3-0 and the Warriors would earn its own 4-0 shutout over Auburn.
Unlike so many other home games where it waited until late in regulation, or even overtime, to make a decisive move, C-NS got all of its goals against Central Square in the first half, putting the Red Hawks in a hold it could not climb out of.
Francesco Palucci led the Northstars with one goal and one assist. Travis Deinhart and Brad McGraw-Wixson also found the net, with Kyle Tracy and Lucas Roberts earning assists.
Then, after so many close wins, one went against the Northstars last Thursday night as it fell, 1-0, to West Genesee, whose early goal held up the rest of the way.
Liverpool, having gone through enough ups and downs this fall, didn’t mind having a stress-free assignment against Auburn, doing exactly what C-NS did against Central Square by notching all of its goals in the first half.
Sam Fuller found the net twice, leading the Warrior push. Jeff Meyers and A.J. Sinclair each picked up one goal and one assist, while Gabe Mondo also earned an assist. Liverpool’s defense protected that lead well, holding the Maroons to just two shots all night.
But that proved different in Thursday’s game at Henninger, a team that had just pushed unbeaten Fayetteville-Manlius to the wire before a last-minute goal helped the Hornets pull it out 2-1.
In Liverpool’s case, it didn’t even surrender anything, and the single goal it produced proved enough to edge past the Black Knights 1-0.
The Warriors’ regular season ended with Saturday’s non-league game at Fulton, and it proved successful as Liverpool shut out the Red Raiders 3-0.
For the second game in a row, Fuller netted two goals, and it pushed the Warriors in the clear after it only led Fulton 1-0 at halftime. Meyers also scored, with Conor Vaughn picking up an assist. Again, Liverpool’s defense did a strong job of protection, with Tyler Lane only having to make a pair of saves.
Despite this strong finish, Liverpool ended up with the no. 8 seed in the sectional Class AA bracket, meaning that, if it beat no. 8 seed West Genesee in Wednesday night’s opening round, it would have to go to Swan Pond to face unbeaten (16-0) top seed Fayetteville-Manlius in the quarterfinals.
C-NS is the no. 4 seed, and heads right into a tough AA quarterfinal at Gillette Field Friday night against no. 5 seed Nottingham, with whom it split a pair of regular-season games.
