With the Section III playoffs looming, the Bishop Ludden boys soccer team ell to no. 14 in the state Class D rankings following its 2-1 loss to Manlius-Pebble Hill on Oct. 6 as the Trojans moved up to the no. 5 spot in those same rankings.
Motivated by this late-season slip, the Gaelic Knights responded with lopsided wins, including an impressive 4-0 romp over Bishop Grimes last Monday to augment the 5-1 win over the Cobras in September. Here, Ludden took 16 shots and saw Connor Catalano lead the way, scoring twice (giving him 11 for the season) and adding an assist.
Lucas Scutari notched his 17th goal of the season, with Michael Gaughan also finding the net. Liam Casey got two assists and Liam Mahar added an assist as Josh Bianchi recorded six saves in the net.
Two more regular-season games remained against teams Ludden beat handily earlier this season, Faith Heritage and Tully. On Wednesday, the Gaelic Knights visited the CNY Family Sports Centre on Jones Road and blanked Faith Heritage 5-0.
No one on the Saints could contain Lucas Scutari, who scored twice and added a pair of assists. Catalano had one goal and one assist as Gaughan and Antonio Scutari also earned goals. John Saleski contributed an assist.
The game with Tully gained much more cache when the Black Knights knocked off MPH 4-1 two days earlier. Now it was Ludden paying a visit, and much to its surprise, the Black Knights were even better in this setting, romping past the Gaelic Knights 5-1.
Against the same 6-7-2 Tully team it beat 4-1 on Sept. 14, Ludden saw its defense picked apart, the Black Knights leading 2-0 by halftime and doubling that margin despite Lucas Scutari’s late goal. Jonah Shay and Bailey Copes both scored twice to overcome six saves by Josh Bianchi.
Despite this, Ludden still grabbed the top seed for the sectional Class D playoffs. With an 18-team field, the Gaelic Knights would have to wait to see if Copenhagen or Blessed Virgin Mary would advance to face them on Thursday in the playoff opener.
West Genesee, who would fall just short of reaching the sectional Class AA tournament, made it back-to-back wins against city foes in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division last Tuesday by defeating Corcoran 3-2, again coming from behind, just like it did Oct. 6, when it rallied from two goals down to beat Nottingham 4-2.
Again the Wildcats trailed in the second half when Ricky Francisco’s successful penalty kick started a rally. Then David Pinker converted with 8:57 left to tie it and, just 34 seconds later, WG attacked again, this time with Griffin Dombroske pouring home the eventual game-winner. Each of David Wenner’s seven saves proved important.
WG saw its regular-season finale with Fayetteville-Manlius lose some meaning when the Hornets clinched the outright SCAC Metro regular-season title due to Baldwinsville’s loss to Liverpool the night before.
Still, the game offered a chance to show Wildcats fans just how much the team had improved in recent weeks, and the result, a 2-1 loss, bore small resemblance to the 5-0 defeat to the Hornets at Swan Pond earlier this season.
Even though Grant Olick-Sutphen and Noah Craig earned goals, F-M could not pull away this time, the Wildcats’ defense holding up well due to 17 saves from Wenner. And WG got within one thanks to Dombroske’s goal with 18 minutes left, assisted by Griffin Sasso, but the Hornets held on.
Jordan-Elbridge took a 6-0 defeat to LaFayette last Tuesday afternoon, with Marius Giebelen proving impossible to contain for the Lancers as he finished the day with two goals and three assists. Ryan Zajac and Joe Lamson each had one goal and one assist. A 10-0 defeat to Cazenovia followed on Thursday night.
Solvay lost that same night to Chittenango by that same 6-0 margin, and though Caden Salvagni made 12 saves for the Bearcats, the Bears had five different goal-scorers, with only Seth Spurgeon scoring twice as he added an assist. Tim Ryder added one goal and one assist.
Rebounding on Saturday, Solvay shut out Phoenix 4-0, doing most of the damage in the second half as Pavel Buko took the lead, scoring twice and tacking on an assist. Christian Solomani and Brad Schrock each had one goal as Shhab Obadi contributed an assist.
