Eight consecutive victories had not propelled the Jamesville-DeWitt boys soccer team into the state Class A rankings, but it still hadn’t lost to a Class A team this fall, either, making the defense of its Section III title a realistic possibility.
And that remained the case even after a tough week that started with the Red Rams going to Fowler and seeing the state no. 11-ranked Falcons put an end to that eight-game win streak, the Falcons prevailing by a 1-0 margin.
For the most part, the flow of play was even, J-D getting its share of looks, but also forced to play plenty of defense, too, as D.J. Newman would eventually earn seven saves on the afternoon.
Each side kept it 0-0 until the second half, when Fowler’s Mupenzi Irakiza, taking a pass from Bonke Rigura, fired home the go-ahead goal. Try as it could, the Rams could not answer, seeing all five of its direct shots stopped by Falcons goalie Myint Lwee.
Back on the field 24 hours later, J-D defeated Mexico 4-2, doing all of its damage in a four-goal first half where Jordan VanStry and Tyler Gabriel were impossible for the Tigers to contain, VanStry finding the net three times for the hat trick and Gabriel earning three assists. Jake Socia had the other goal, plus an assist of his own.
Now J-D returned home on Thursday afternoon to confront another top Class A contender, Fulton, who was just three spots behind Fowler (at no. 14) in those same state rankings the Rams could not crack during its month-long unbeaten run.
Thanks to Dean Kousmanidis, though, the Red Rams put away the Red Raiders in a 2-0 shutout. Twice in the first half, J-D saw its attack pay off when Kousmanidis powered shots past Fulton goalie Josh Hudson.
And though Hudson was able to stop everything else J-D sent at him, earning eight saves, the Rams’ defense, buoyed by its strong effort in that loss to Fowler, kept Fulton in check, as none of its five shots got past Newman.
With a 10-3 record, J-D would meet its neighbors from Christian Brothers Academy Thursday night at Alibrandi Stadium and then turn around to face F-M two days later, seeing if it could claim full local bragging rights before the sectional playoffs start the following week.
CBA, for its part, had gone to Homer last Thursday night and ripped the Trojans 4-1, and again Matt DePerro proved unstoppable, notching a natural hat trick during a first half where he scored three times and assisted on the other goal, by Jake Dinger. Nate Brower and Jared Saya both assisted on DePerro’s scoring plays.
And this followed a 4-0 win over Central Square last Tuesday where DePerro had another hree-goal hat trick and, again, Dinger had the other goal, plus an assist. Jared Sava, Louis Moran and T.J. LaDuca had one assist apiece.
Having moved to 10-4 with those wins, CBA would not only take on J-D, but also test Class AA title contender Nottingham right before the game with the Red Rams.
