The Bishop Ludden boys soccer team was no. 13 in the latest state Class D rankings when it took on Onondaga last Tuesday night, the Gaelic Knights moving to 9-1 on the season by blanking the Tigers 4-0.
OCS kept things close until the second half, when Ludden broke out in large measure due to Lucas Scutari’s skills. All that Scutari did was record a three-goal hat trick as Connor Catalano got the other goal and assisted on one of Scutari’s tallies. Jack Moen also had an assist.
Another shutout followed in a key test Saturday against state Class D no. 12-ranked Fabius-Pompey, with Ludden requiring strong defense to fight its way to a 1-0 victory over the Falcons.
Throughout this game, the Gaelic Knights did a tremendous job tying up F-P’s forwards any time it tried to organize an attack. The Falcons had just two direct shots, while Ludden also had to work hard to get any good look, but capitalized in the second half when Catalano fired the go-ahead goal past F-P goalie Jack Klawitter.
West Genesee went to Swan Pond last Monday night to face undefeated, state Class AA no. 3-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius, who once again proved too difficult to contain as it got a 5-0 shutout over the Wildcats.
Under constant attack, WG goalie David Wenner would make 15 saves. Still, the Hornets got a 2-0 lead by halftime and pulled further away as eight different players had either a goal or assists, led by Cole Teelin, who got two goals and one assist.
On Wednesday night, WG did get on the board against Cicero-North Syracuse, but lost a 4-2 decision. The game was tied, 1-1, going into the second half before the Northstars pulled away, keyed by Carter Jackson’s hat trick.
Griffin Dombroske and Jack McManus had the Wildcats’ goals, with David Pinker and Carter Turton earning assists. Wenner finished with 10 saves.
All of this frustration finally resulted in a winning effort on Friday night againt Nottingham, though it took a late comeback and a pair of overtimes for the Wildcats to defeat the Bulldogs 3-2.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, WG caught up thanks to second-half goals by Jackson Craig and Ricky Francisco, plus solid work in the net from Wenner, who would eventually earn 15 saves. One OT period went scoreless, but in the second OT Turton put the game-winner past Bulldogs goalie Ben Ashby.
Jordan-Elbridge started its week with a 4-0 defeat to Blessed Virgin Mary. Combined, Eagles goalies Keegan Ferris and Troy Gleason made 16 saves, but the Crusaders built upon a 1-0 halftime lead by having Peter Hanson score twice as single goals went to Zach Massett and Francis Alexander.
A day later, when J-E faced the same CBA side Westhill had just defeated, it again could not get on the board in a 5-0 loss to the Brothers. Absorbing 22 shots, Ferris and Gleason stopped 17 of them, but Dan Melvin led a balanced CBA attack with two goals as Tommy Daviau, Ryan O’Connor and Zach Witz also scored.
Solvay took a 3-2 overtime defeat to Bishop Grimes last Tuesday night, scoring in each half, but unable to get out in front late. Brad Schrock and Eddy Matsyuk earned the Bearcats’ goals, with Pavel Buko and Sebastian Farnsworth earning assists. Paul Kim scored twice for the Cobras.
More frustration for Solvay came in Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Faith Heritage. Nick Florczyk scored for the Bearcats, but Elijah Studt answered for the Saints in the second half, and that’s where it stayed, Caden Salvagni making 13 saves, two more than Faith counterpart Jared Henderson. Solvay also lost a 4-1decision to Cazenovia on Saturday afternoon.
As that went on, J-E lost, 3-1, to Phoenix, getting a first-half goal from Alex Everette, assisted by Deacon Hill, but nothing else as the Firebirds led 2-1 at intermission and blanked the Eagles in the second half. Matt Frost made six saves.
