Forget about what was supposed to happen in the boys soccer Section III Class AA playoffs, for it veered off script during Thursday night’s semifinal doubleheader at Fulton – much to the delight of Cicero-North Syracuse, and to the despair of Liverpool.
Right after the top-seeded Warriors got knocked off by no. 4 seed Baldwinsville 2-1 in overtime, the no. 3 seed Northstars appeared and did something no one else had this fall – namely, defeat Nottingham, doing so by an equally slim 1-0 margin.
Going in, the favorites were obvious. Liverpool, at 13-1-3, was no. 6 in the state AA rankings, and Nottingham, at 11-0-6, held the no. 9 spot. When they had played their semifinal opponents in the regular season, none of those matches ended in defeats.
In fact, Liverpool had trumped B’ville twice, by a 2-0 margin on Aug. 31 at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium and then in a 2-1 overtime decision two weeks later at LHS Stadium. Since then, though, the Bees had won seven in a row, and were a far different, and far more confident, group when it faced the Warriors again.
In the 13th minute, Justin Lado converted the game’s first goal. For the rest of the half, the Bees’ defense protected that 1-0 advantage, utilizing its past knowledge of Liverpool’s attack methods to withstand them.
Yet it didn’t completely work, as less than six minutes into the second half George Betobaum netted the tying goal for the Warriors. And now the tension really built, as the rest of regulation, plus a 15-minute overtime period, passed with neither side able to break the tie.
But just when it looked like penalty kicks would settle the battle, B’ville’s Mike Brussel flashed open and, with five minutes left, sent a shot past Liverpool goalie Ben Bowers to end it. Prior to that, Bowers had made six saves, one less than Bees counterpart Andrew Hahn.
The long battle meant that, when C-NS took the field against Nottingham, it was close to 9 p.m., a late start that had the chance to affect both teams.
Still, the Northstars remembered that the Bulldogs could strike quickly and from any place on the field with its speed and skill, but that despite those attributes, C-NS had played them to a 2-2 draw in their lone regular-season encounter on Oct. 5.
Immediately, the defense went to work, staying in space so that the Bulldogs didn’t have much open field. And they got more of a boost when, just 12:41 into the first half, Cameron Houser knocked in the game’s first goal.
Playing the game on its own terms meant that C-NS had to give up some chances, and indeed for the rest of the night it was unable to add to that cushion.
At the same time, though, the defense, led by Evan Gakeler, Ryan Gilbert, Austin Mizell and Matt Pike, spent the remaining 67-plus minutes putting together its best effort of the season, never letting many shots get to goalie Matt Siegel and preserving a big win.
So, back in the finals for the first time since 2012, C-NS would returns to Fulton Monday night and try to topple B’ville, who was after a remarkable seventh AA title in nine years, having lost just twice in its last 26 sectional contests.
