Looking to spring at least one surprise during their visit to the Liverpool Tournament on Labor Day weekend, the Christian Brothers Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt boys soccer teams could not do so.
CBA met host Liverpool in the Sept. 2 tournament opener, and led for a while before surrendering that advantage in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Warriors.
During the first half, the Brothers went out in front 1-0 thanks to an unassisted goal by the Brothers’ Alex Calkins But the Warriors would get even in the early stages of the second half as Ben Root netted the tying goal.
Then, after one OT period was played without a result, Root returned in the second OT to put the game-winner CBA goalie Matt Buck with more than six minutes to play as Alex Dzodic and Marques Wright got assists. Buck finished the day with four saves.
Right after that game, J-D went up against Baldwinsville, who had beaten Liverpool 1-0 on this same turf two days earlier. Just like the Warriors, the Red Rams would not get on the board against a stingy Bees’ defense and took a 2-0 defeat.
Neither side got on the board in the first half, but the 0-0 deadlock would not hold. Relentless pressure on Rams goalie Tom Bonaccio (he had nine saves) led to more chances, and B’ville converted them as Brandon Mimas and Jason Hahn netted goals. J-D, by contrast, managed just two shots all afternoon.
Reversing opponents on Saturday, CBA did manage a 1-1 draw with B’ville, while J-D again took a loss, falling to Liverpool in yet another 2-1 decision.
Connor Carhart’s first-half goal pushed B’ville in front of CBA. That 1-0 lead didn’t hold, though, as Alex Calkins, off a feed from Dan Melvin, beat Lucas Vecchio for the tying goal in the second half. 20 minutes of overtime followed, but neither team could win it as Vecchio had five saves and Buck had seven saves.
J-D, against Liverpool, trailed 1-0 at halftime, and though Jake Socia’s goal, assisted by Liam O’Malley, got the Rams on the board, the Warriors answered and held on as Marques Wright and Justin Lombard earned the Warriors’ goals.
CBA moved on from there and beat Marcellus 2-1 last Tuesday night at Alibrandi Stadium. Goals by Calkins and Tom Daviau helped the Brothers hold off a solid Mustangs effort that included Nate Kellar’s late goal and 10 saves from goalie Sam Hayduke. Buck matched Hayduke’s 10-save total, though.
However, the Brothers dropped a 1-0 decision to Nottingham on Saturday afternoon. Neither team got on the board until the second half, when Juma Hussein scored for the Bulldogs with an assist from Sushil Bhattarai.
That negated an otherwise strong effort by Buck, who stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced, but CBA was held to just four shots of its own, unable to generate consistent opportunities against a stingy Nottingham defense.
While all this was going on, East Syracuse Minoa, who had opened its season by prevailing in the Aug. 26-27 Oswego Tournament, returned to action last Wednesday night and, again visiting Oswego, recorded a 3-1 victory over the Buccaneers.
Following a first half where neither side could get on the board, the Spartans swarmed Oswego in the game’s latter stages. David Neff, with one goal and one assist, led the charge as Safet Suljic and Jordan Hodge also found the net. Luke Garlic and Kyle Scalzo had one assist apiece.
