All around them, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team can see success, and often at the Northstars’ expense.
Absent an outright Section III Class AA title since 2006, the Northstars again were close a season ago, taking a narrow 2-1 defeat in the sectional semifinals to eventual champion Fayetteville-Manlius.
What had to encourage head coach Mike McCaffery and his staff was that C-NS graduated just five seniors from that team, bringing a fair amount of continuity to the lineup for 2015.
Still, the start was rough for the Northstars during last weekend’s Clarence Tournament in the Buffalo suburbs, for it had to face powerhouse St. Joseph’s in the opening round.
C-NS fell, 3-0, to the Marauders, with all of the goals coming in the first half. Matt Siegel, returning in goal, did settle down and make six saves, but St. Joseph’s would not get caught.
The result did not sit well – and that was good for the Northstars, who rallied a day later and routed another Buffalo private school, Nichols, by a 5-1 margin.
Best known as the alma mater of basketball great Christian Laettner, Nichols offered up less resistance here, C-NS jumping on them with four unanswered goals in the first half.
And most of that was due to senior Lucas Roberts, who had a hat trick by halftime and finished with a career-best four goals. Nolan Byrnes also converted, with Jason Hange and Peter Civello adding assists. Kevin Czuba saw some time in the net and had four saves.
It’s an active start for C-NS, who would have a rematch with F-M Tuesday at the Gillette Road complex and, two nights later, face another big rival, Liverpool, before visiting Auburn on Friday. Half the Northstars’ regular-season schedule will be in the books by the time it finishes the Optimist Tournament on Sept. 12 against Rochester McQuaid.
