Right to the end, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team was in the battle, making the state’s top-ranked team sweat and worry.
But when all was finished in Thursday night’s Section III Class AA semifinal at Liverpool High School Stadium, the no. 4 seed Northstars had taken a 2-1 defeat to top seed Fayetteville-Manlius, the third time it had lost to the Hornets this fall, each of them one-goal decisions.
These same two teams had met in this same semifinal round a year ago, and C-NS had lost. Both of their regular-season meetings had ended in 1-0 defeats for the Northstars, one of them going to overtime, so C-NS had shown that the Hornets’ 17-0 mark did not intimidate them one bit.
But it take long for the Hornets to apply pressure and get in front. C-NS goalie Matt Siegel made a point-blank save on Jules Ngadula’s attempt to set up a corner kick, only to have Anthony Kousmanidis find the net on that ensuing set piece just 4:11 into the game.
Needing a response, the Northstars made its own series of runs, forcing F-M goalie Ben Obrist to make a big stop on Evan Gakeler’s free kick midway through the first half.
But there was nothing Obrist could do in the 23rd minute when C-NS’s Austin Mizell lobbed a perfect corner kick from the right side to the far post, where Kyle Tracy sent a header inside the top left corner of the net.
It was just the sixth goal the Hornets’ defense had allowed all season, and it didn’t bother them too much. Instead, it resumed the initiative, getting several sprints into the C-NS end and waiting for another opening.
That came in the 36th minute, when Tysen Tresness, working the ball in the left corner, sent a darting cross to the middle. Several F-M forwards were poised to strike, but it was Kousmanidis getting the ball and ripping it into the net to break the 1-1 tie.
Throughout the early portion of the second half, C-NS made sporadic runs, occasionally getting shots on the net, but getting nothing more past Obrist, whose diving save in the 60th minute kept his side in front.
Meanwhile, Ngadula kept breaking free of C-NS defenders, kept getting open lanes to the net – and kept missing, his shots drifting wide or long when even one more goal may have locked it up. Siegel finished with nine saves, two more than Obrist.
During a frantic final minute of regulation, the Northstars earned a corner kick and free kick, but the defense made one more big stop, and the Hornets were back in the sectional final against Baldwinsville, whom it lost to in five of the last seven title game.
C-NS finished its season at 11-6-1, but the best part for head coach Mike McCaffery is that he only has five seniors on the roster. So while the likes of Tracy and Matt Corapi depart, nine starters from the sectional semifinal, including Mizell, Siegel, Gakeler, Nick Miller, Nick Bitz, Matt Pike, Lucas Roberts, Zach Spenard and Cameron Houser, could come back in 2015.
