Of the area private-school boys soccer teams, it’s Bishop Grimes that’s enjoying the best start, winning each of its first three games.
The Cobras first found the win column last Tuesday, outscoring Homer 7-4 largely based on the work of Cobras teammates Deng Mawien and Byam Mugushu.
Mawien and Mugushu both scored three times, combining for three assists as Connor Alexander earned the other goal. It took a combined 12 saves from Grimes goalies Ethan Fritz and Andrew Coleman to hold off the Trojans’ efforts.
Then Grimes beat Binghamton Seton Catholic 3-2 on Friday to kick off a busy weekend, jumping out of the gate with all of its goals in the first half as Mugushu scored once and assisted on tallies by Alexander and Mike DiBlasi. Mawien assisted on Mugushu’s goal.
Seton Catholic pulled within one late, but helped by seven saves by Ethan Fritz, Grimes held on, and carried that momentum into Saturday’s game, a 3-0 shutout of LaFayette.
It took a while to put the Lancers away, but the Cobras, up 1-0 at halftime, did so as Mugushu put together a goal and assist, with Mawien and Zed Weigand also finding the net. Robert Mannion contributed an assist.
For Christian Brothers Academy, the season got underway with a pair of games at the Liverpool Invitational, beginning Sept. 1 with an impressive 4-2 victory over West Genesee.
The Brothers led 2-0 by halftime, and answered the Wildcats’ late charge as four different players – Dan Melvin, Jack Harrigan, Tristain Kucera and Ayo Oguntola – earned those four goals. Matt Buck finished with four saves.
This success did not carry over into the game against host Liverpool a day later as CBA fell 3-1 to the Warriors.
Even with Ben Vlassis scoring in the first half, the Brothers fell behind 2-1, and then were blanked in the latter stages, Liverpool getting away as Jake Zona scored twice for the Warriors and Jack Pento netted the other goal.
Steeled by these games, CBA traveled to Chittenango last Tuesday night and proved quite impressive, bashing the Bears 4-1.
The Brothers overcame Sean Larsson’s early goal, led 2-1 by halftime and pulled away behind two goals from Ben Vlassis as Dan Melvin and Matt Potenza each had one goal and one assist. Ayo Oguntola and Tristan Kucera also earned assists.
Just as impressive for CBA was managing to play Cicero-North Syracuse to a 0-0 draw on Saturday. Eighty minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime did not lead to a resolution or a goal as Buck and Northstars counterpart Ethan Doerschuk had five saves apiece.
Manlius-Pebble Hill earned its first win of the season on Aug. 31 with a 4-0 shutout of the Onondaga Tigers.
Scoring twice in each half, the Trojans got one goal and one assist from golf star Johnny Gruninger, while Grant Lewis had two assists. Naldo Chen, Ahk El-Hindi and Brendan O’Malley also scored as Jack Hogan gained an assist. Combined, goalies Ezra Hanlin and Frank Fung stopped all seven shots they faced.
But MPH lost 5-1 to Tully last Wednesday, Chen’s second-half goal coming long after the Black Knights had seized control. Dante Bertolo and Sam Stoogenke led Tully, each scoring twice as Bertolo added an assist.
The up-and-down play continued Friday as MPH roared past Cato-Meridian 5-1. Amid a 20-shot barrage, the Trojans saw Chen notch a three-goal hat trick, plus an assist, while Gopal Neopaney had one goal and one assist. Jay Hoke also scored.
