For much of the season, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool field hockey teams trended in different directions. Yet when they had first gone head-to-head Sept. 28 at LHS Stadium, it had ended 2-2, with nothing settled between these neighbors and rivals.
That changed when the rematch took place last Thursday night at Bragman Stadium, where the Warriors pieced together its best overall effort of the season and knocked off the Northstars 2-1, little imagining that the result would lead to one more neighborhood clash once the Section III playoffs got underway.
None of that seemed possible in the game’s opening minutes. Liverpool rarely had possession, and when Jamie Wagner scored 8:15 into the first half to give C-NS a 1-0 lead, it appeared all would go fine for the hosts.
However, the Northstars could not follow up that early success, instead getting shut down by a fast-improving Liverpool defense, whose work got rewarded when, off a turnover, Claire Gaynor netted an unassisted goal with 9:30 left in the half.
They stayed 1-1 through halftime, and though C-NS got a series of penalty corners early in the second half, it converted none of them, and gradually the Warriors picked up its own pressure.
With 12:29 left, a Liverpool penalty corner translated into the go-ahead goal as Emily Salanger converted off a feed from Bri Socker. Then the defense took charge, rarely letting the Northstars get near the net, especially in the waning minutes as Brittany Cussen stopped seven of the eight shots she faced.
Two days earlier, Liverpool had gone to Burton Street Elementary and took on Cazenovia, an opponent it had already faced Sept. 26, a 5-2, and someone that already beaten C-NS twice in the regular season, too.
Here, the 10-time reigning sectional champion Lakers didn’t even let the Warriors get on the board in a 4-0 decision, twice scoring in each half and dominating possession so much that it held Liverpool to just one direct shot on Shea Flannery.
Meanwhile, Warriors goalie Brittany Cussen made eight saves, but could not keep everything out. Four different Lakers – Morgan Giordano, Mikaylee Whalen, Molly LaHart and Caeli Carroll – earned those four goals, with Whalen joining Zoe Shephard in the assist column.
C-NS, meanwhile, played the night before the Liverpool match, shutting out Cortland 3-0. Perhaps due to the pregame Senior Night festivities, the Northstars started slowly against the 3-11 Purple Tigers, only owning a 1-0 halftime lead before pulling away.
Most of that was due to the work of Cortland goalie Kelsey Gibbons, who made an astonishing 33 saves against constant C-NS pressure. Still, Jamie Wagner, Bailey Lazore and Margaret Ball managed to score goals.
Right after the loss to Liverpool, C-NS had to regroup for Saturday’s visit from Vestal (Section IV), and it couldn’t pull it off, falling 5-0 to the Golden Bears.
And Liverpool continued to trend upward, beating Whitesboro by the same 2-1 margin as it did with C-NS, Here. Nicole Wilson scored both of Liverpool’s goals, with Socker and Hayley Vivenzo getting credit for assists.
It all led to the unveiling of the sectional Class A bracket, where C-NS had the no. 4 seed and Liverpool the no. 5 seed. That meant one more meeting between the two, taking place Thursday night at Bragman Stadium, with the prize a date in next Tuesday’s semifinal against top seed Baldwinsville at Rome Free Academy Stadium.
