Just as in years past, the Westhill boys soccer team understood that the path to a Section III Class B title would have to weave through Skaneateles.
They would meet just once in the regular season, clashing last Tuesday night with the state no. 5-ranked Warriors trying to slow down a state no. 14-ranked Lakers side that had recorded six consecutive shutouts following a season-opening loss to Queensbury.
With two strong defensive units on display, it figured that the match would be low-scoring, and a single goal made the difference – one scored by Westhill to claim a 1-0 decision.
Looking for its fifth win in a row, Westhill broke up the long Skaneateles shutout streak when Jack Grooms scored in the first half, assisted by Bo BenYehuda. That was all the Lakers would surrender, though, its defense again quite sound as Luke Peterson only had to make nine saves.
But with ample time to equalize, the Lakers could not do so since Westhill’s defense was strong, too, limiting the visitors to seven shots, all stopped by John Geer.
Westhill played three games in a 48-hours span late in the week, starting Thursday when it topped Solvay 6-0 as it scored five times in the first half to put it away early. Charlie Bolesh got two goals, with single tallies going to Grooms, Owen Hoyne and D.J. Caloia. Reilly Sizing and Brad Zell earned single assists.
In Friday’s 3-0 shutout of Homer, Westhill again spread things around, seeing Grooms, Hoyne and David McPeak pick up goals and BenYehuda return to earn two assists as Connor Schwartz added an assist. The Warriors held the Trojans to just two shots on net.
A tense 1-0 win over Whitesboro followed on Saturday, a high-quality win since those other Warriors were no. 6 in the latest state Class A rankings.
Combine the heat with the opponent and the tight schedule, and Westhill could not expect to play at full speed. Yet it still kept Whitesboro off the board and won it when BenYehuda took a pass from Evan Watt and put it past Ronnie Belluscio for the only goal of the afternoon.
That same night, Marcellus won a tense 3-2 decision over Christian Brothers Academy, jumping out to a 2-0 advantage by halftime but then seeing the Brothers nearly make it back thanks to second-half goals by Tommy Daviau and Dan Melvin.
To hang on, the Mustangs needed work from its main two attackers as David Bosak found the net twice, with Noah LaFever assisting on one of Bosak’s goals and scoring the other. Con Clarke also had an assist.
This Moved Marcellus to 7-1 on the season, and it improved on that mark Saturday at Phoenix, getting to double digits in a 10-0 rout of the Firebirds that included a hat trick from Bosak, who had three goals and one assist.
Plenty of other Mustangs helped, too, starting with Clarke, who scored twice. Single goals went to LaFever, Matt Reagan, Lukas Stasyuk, Dakota Baker and Sean Libera, with Stasyuk and Reagan adding assists. Steve Matro, Shawn Manke, Andrew Fragnito, Brendan Shanahan and Jack Santariello also earned assists.
West Genesee, who lost 3-0 to Westhill on Sept. 15, was shut out again two nights later at Henninger, a 2-0 decision where David Wenner made nine saves, but the Black Knights scored once in each half as Khin Win and Asani Mauridi picked up the goals.
Finally, the Wildcats’ skid ended on Friday as it blanked Corcoran in another 3-0 decision, all of the goals coming in the second half as Ricky Francisco scored twice and Manuel Garcia-Flores added a single goal. Griffin Dombroske earned an assist.
Bishop Ludden, who sat at no. 13 in the state Class D rankings, handled Faith Heritage 4-0 on Friday as Lucas Scutari, Rob Sexton, Connor Catalano and Michael Gaughan each earned goals, with Cam Kaminski joining Gaughan in the assist column.
A day later, the Gaelic Knights won again, 3-1, over Utica Academy of Science, but it wasn’t easy. Eldar Mujic’s goal helped the Atoms forge a 1-1 halftime tie, but Ludden pulled in front during the second half by scoring twice. Kaminski had a goal and Liam Casey earned an assist.
Jordan-Elbridge took a 2-1 overtime defeat to Cato-Meridian last Monday afternoon. Ivan Orozco’s second-half goal matched one from Chad Thompson, but in the extra period Thompson struck again to help the Blue Devils prevail as Eagles goalie Matt Frost had a terrific effort, stopping 13 of the 15 shots he faced.
A day later, at Chittenango, the Eagles were only down by a goal at halftime, but saw the Bears erupt in the second half, scoring eight times to hand J-E a 9-1 defeat. Mike Meyers did score amid Chittenango’s barrage, assisted by Nick Sherman. Keegan Ferris and Troy Gleason combined for 15 saves.
As a follow-up on Thursday night, J-E again went to overtime, this time getting a 1-1 draw with Onondaga. Both goals came in the first half as Kevin Chiaramonte scored for the Eagles, assisted by Collin Barrigar, while Danya Mango converted for the Tigers.
Throughout the second half, and 20 minutes of overtime, both sides had a host of chances to move in front. Ferris played the whole game in the net, earning seven saves, but J-E couldn’t reward him as OCS goalie Adam Wood recorded 13 saves.
