Perhaps the Bishop Ludden boys soccer team noticed that it was not in the first state rankings of the season, but that Bishop Grimes was there, situated at no. 12 in Class C.
Whether that was the case or not, the result of last Tuesday night’s private-school clash was never in doubt as the Gaelic Knights smashed the Cobras 5-1, surrendering an early goal to Michael DiBlasi but still seizing a 2-1 lead by halftime.
Then it got away, Ludden seeing Connor Catalano score twice and earn an assist to lead that charge. Lucas Scutari had one goal and one assist, while Liam Katko and Antonio Scutari had the other goals. Michael Gaughan added an assist. Sean Merrill, playing in the net, stopped eight of the nine Grimes shots he faced.
As a follow-up, Ludden faced Tully on Thursday afternoon and saw Lucas Scutari put on a one-man show in the Gaelic Knights’ 4-1 win over the Black Knights.
Les than six minutes into the game, Ludden took the lead for good as Scutari, from the right corner, passed it to Gaughan, who converted. In the 30th minute, Scutari made it 2-0 by taking the ball at midfield, running past several Tully defenders and beating Black Knights goalie Joe Crawford with a low shot.
And when Tully’s Evan Rapp scored 1:12 into the second half to cut Ludden’s lead to 2-1, Scutari answered with another long run and goal three minutes later. To cap off his big day, Scutari assisted on Cole Reale’s clincher with 13:14 to play.
Westhill, who started out at no. 7 in the first state Class B rankings of the fall, promptly scored seven first-half goals in last Tuesday’s 9-0 romp of Phoenix as Reilly Sizing led the charge, earning a three-goal hat trick, plus an assist.
Bo BenYehuda, Ben Essa and Brad Zell each finished with one goal and one assist, while Nick Rosati, Tim Carkner and Phillip Bogan had one goal apiece. Patrick Coman also picked up an assist.
Then, on Saturday, Westhill took on West Genesee in what’s turned into an annual neighborhood affair. The seventh edition of the “Friendship Cup” would go in the Warriors’ favor by a 3-0 margin.
A pair of first-half goals put Westhill in control, and John Geer protected that margin, ultimately finishing with six saves. Jack Grooms, Charlie Bolesh and Owen Hoyne converted those goals, with Bogan and BenYehuda earning one assist apiece.
Back on Tuesday, WG had run right into unbeaten, state AA no. 7-ranked Baldwinsville and struggled throughout a 7-0 defeat to the Bees, who wasted little time seizing control, racing out to a 4-0 advantage by halftime.
Between them, Wildcats goalie David Wenner and Griffin Sasso tried to contain some of the damage and made 11 total saves. B’ville had too much, though, as Brandon Mimas and Michael Allen each had two goals and two assists, with Griffin Seifritz also finding the net twice.
From there, WG had to visit defending Section III Class AA champion Liverpool on Thursday night, and with Griffin Dombroske’s goal actually were tied, 1-1, at halftime. But the Warriors got away in the second half, prevailing 3-1 as goals by Abe Haley, Ben Root and Caleb Munski overcame Wenner’s 14 saves.
Marcellus was home last Tuesday night and shut out Chittenango 2-0, the game staying scoreless until the second half, when the Mustangs’ pressure finally paid off as David Bosak twice put shots past Bears goalie Noah Schnauffer, who had earned 23 saves overall. Con Clarke was credited with an assist.
On Thursday, Marcellus got another shutout, topping Jordan-Elbridge 6-0 as it got goals from six different players. Clarke, Noah LaFever, Carter Austin, Sean Libera, Steve Matro and Lukas Stasyuk all converted, with Bosak adding an assist. In defeat, Eagles goalie Keegan Farris had 18 saves.
Then the Mustangs faced rival Skaneateles on Saturday and never recovered from the Lakers’ opening surge in a 2-0 defeat. Gabe Konieczny and Sam Gadjo both scored before the game was 10 minutes old, and while the Mustangs’ defense settled down, it could not put anything past Skaneateles goalie Luke Peterson, who stopped all seven shots he faced.
Before Marcellus faced Skaneateles, Solvay had its own match against the Lakers and took a 5-0 defeat. Caden Salvagni made 10 saves, but saw five different Skaneateles players – Konieczny,Jeremy Castle, Jeff Palmer, Tylar Moss and Max Moss – earn that team’s goals.
