In the wake of the Liverpool boys soccer team’s Sept. 12 overtime victory over Cicero-North Syracuse, the two sides went in different directions.
For C-NS, the aftermath was more struggles on the offensive side, shut out 2-0 by Fayetteville-Manlius on Sept. 16 and, two nights later, again kept off the board in a 1-0 loss to Nottingham.
Much like the F-M game, they played through a scoreless first half. Try as it could, the Northstars could not get it past Bulldogs goalie Ben Ashby, and Nottingham took the lead with a second-half goal from Salio Lian, assisted by Sushil Bhattarai. In defeat, C-NS goalie Ethan Doerschuk had eight saves.
And when Baldwinsville, who was no. 5 in the state Class AA rankings but was coming off its first loss of the season to Fayetteville-Manlius, arrived at the Gillette Road complex last Friday night, C-NS again got shut out.
The twist, though, was that the Northstars also kept the Bees off the board in a 0-0 draw. Through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, the two sides took turns trying to break the deadlock.
With a few more opportunities, the Bees couldn’t get any of its nine shots past C-NS goalie Ethan Doerschuk, while Sean O’Key got a turn in the net for B’ville and made six saves. The Northstars hoped this inspired effort would lead to better results in games this week at Henninger and West Genesee.
Meanwhile, Liverpool maintained its winning form, prevailing over West Genesee later that week and then making it three wins in a row last Tuesday night at Corcoran, though it took a second-half surge to subdue the Cougars 3-0.
Corcoran carried an 0-5 record into the game, yet made Liverpool sweat through a scoreless first half, the Cougars’ defense coalescing around goalkeeper Jed Boyle, who would finish the night with eight saves.
But once the Warriors broke through with a goal early in the second half, two more would follow. Jake Zona twice converted, with Abe Haley adding a goal and assist. Jack Pento and Bryce Everts also earned assists.
Liverpool, carrying a 6-2 record at the midway point of the regular season, would take on Baldwinsville Monday night, and has its own game with Henninger Friday with a visit from Nottingham in between.
