At the exact halfway point of its regular season, the Westhill boys soccer team is undefeated at 7-0-1, but that’s just part of the story.
When the Warriors defeated state Class B no. 8-ranked Marcellus 2-0 on Tuesday night, it marked the eighth consecutive time in this 2015 campaign that it has kept an opponent from scoring a goal.
Despite this remarkable defensive performance, though, Westhill still isn’t in the state rankings, a fact that should get rectified soon, but for now, the accomplishment of eight straight shutouts is extraordinary enough.
And this eighth game may have proved the most difficult of all. Marcellus arrived with a 7-1-1 record of its own, boasting a solid, aggressive attack that has helped the team overcome some problems keeping opponents from finding the net.
Throughout the game’s first 15 minutes, Marcellus applied lots of pressure. Twice, shots that were on target flew just over the net, one of them tipped by Westhill goalie Antonio Scrimale.
Then, midway through the first half, the Warriors got some space to attack, and Nick Colella, working from the right side, crossed to the middle, where Ryan Zimmerman one-timed a shot past Marcellus goalie Ryan Rosenboom.
Staked to that 1-0 lead, Westhill spent the rest of the half forcing the tempo. Forced to foul, Marcellus set up a free kick in the 34th minute where Colella, from 30 yards out, drilled it right inside the top center portion of the net, a shot Rosenboom had no chance to stop.
For the rest of the game, Rosenboom made a series of great stops, and as the second half wore on, the Mustangs picked up its pressure again, trying in vain to break Westhill’s shutout streak.
It would not happen, though. Defenders Adam French, Ryan Albert, Jake Polacek, Kyle Rey and sweeper Brian Woodhouse constantly turned away free kicks and corner kicks, and any shot that went directly to the net fell into Scrimale’s hands, though his best stop was a deflection of Adam LeFever’s point-blank attempt with 7:20 left.
Marcellus went from that game to a wild 5-4 victory over Rome Free Academy on Saturday, a game where a 2-1 halftime lead held up because the Mustangs answered every time the Black Knights found the net. Ross Filtch and Mike Kent each scored twice, with Alec Stasyuk adding one goal and one assist. Kyle Cangemi and Doug LaPrease got one assist apiece.
Meanwhile, the other area boys soccer teams had plenty of their own ups and downs, though Bishop Ludden got a key 2-1 victory over Bishop Grimes last Wednesday night.
By netting the lone goal of the first half, the Gaelic Knights had a cushion against Mitchell Collins’ second-half tally for the Cobras. Not only did Tom Muller and Brendan Downey find the net for Ludden, they assisted on each other’s goals.
Solvay faced Jordan-Elbridge on the same Tuesday that Marcellus and Westhill squared off, and it was the Bearcats getting the best of it, using a virtuoso performance from Wisam Qaraghuli to defeat the Eagles 3-1.
Qaraghuli had scored in the first half, but so did J-E’s Jakob Schwarting. So it was 1-1 going into the second half, where Qaraghuli converted twice more for the hat trick as Nazar Trut got credit for a pair of assists. Eagles goalie Max Bondgren finished with eight saves.
A day earlier, Solvay lost, 2-1, to Tully in overtime, Jordan Devereaux scoring in the second half for the Bearcats, but Drew McNerney answering with a goal for the Black Knights and an assist on the game-winner, delivering a corner kick that Brendan Lyon sneaked past Joe Reale.
Meanwhile, West Genesee threatened to break out of its early-season doldrums by prevailing, 2-0, over visiting Corcoran last Tuesday night, both goals coming in the first half as Manny Castro and Bahie Ezzat converted. Andrew Murray and Joe Gauzza added assists as Ryan Mavretish, playing superbly in the net, stopped all seven Cougars shots he faced.
