To its fans, part of the allure and charm of soccer is the fact that a single shot, or mistake, or save, can alter the entire fortunes of teams and individuals, not to mention seasons and championship races.
Whether that is true again in Section III Class AA boys soccer is long from settled, but Liverpool just may have benefited from one of those magic moments in the short term – and beyond.
The Warriors’ 1-0 victory over Baldwinsville Thursday night at LHS Stadium was impressive enough given that the Bees entered the game 6-0, seated at no. 4 in the state AA rankings and riding a 480-minute shutout streak.
And while Liverpool held its own no. 15 state ranking, it knew the task of trying to solve a B’ville defense that had not allowed a goal all season was a heavy one.
That it did so was a result of a special moment delivered from an unlikely source – junior midfielder Ujjwal Chhetri.
Throughout the game’s early stages, the Warriors had put together a string of runs that tested B’ville’s back line and indicated that this would be a bigger challenge than the Bees had previously faced.
Then, just past the 11-minute mark, the ball drifted out to Chhetri, situated 35 yards from the net and slightly to the right. Given room to take a long-distance shot, Chhetri powered a perfect drive that proved too high for B’ville goalie Nate Hanna and fit just inside the crossbar at the top of the net.
For the rest of the night, the Warriors would make plenty of spirited attempts to add to its total, yet could not do so, leaving the matter to its own defense to protect a one-goal margin for more than 68 minutes.
Seniors Mike Salinas and Connor McClain, along with junior Jack Pento, anchored a back line that constantly frustrated the Bees, clogging up the middle and ably handling whatever free kicks or corner kicks B’ville gained. They also protected goalie Ben White, who didn’t have to make many difficult stops.
Liverpool couldn’t celebrate much, though, because on Saturday night it would face another big rival, Cicero-North Syracuse, at the Gillette Road complex.
Here, the Warriors pulled off another shutout, topping the Northstars 2-0 as a goal in each half proved enough, Ian Zingaro delivering the clincher during the second half.
C-NS had its own tough path to take before it faced Liverpool, with the Northstars first going to Nottingham last Tuesday and needing patience and defense to pull out a 1-0 victory over the Bulldogs.
Having just played CBA to a 0-0 draw on Sept. 8, the Northstars were heading toward that same fate until a second-half play where Carter Jackson pushed a shot past Nottingham goalie Ben Ashby.
That was all Ashby would allow, and the Bulldogs had plenty of its own chances throughout the game, only to get thwarted as Ethan Doerschuk made eight saves, matching Ashby’s total.
Then it was on to Camillus for Thursday night’s game at West Genesee, and that game almost matched what happened at Nottingham as the Northstars again won 1-0 with a second-half goal.
Following a scoreless first half, Bryant Perdomo broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal. WG had plenty of its own opportunities, but could not put it past Doerschuk, who made seven saves.
Before it dealt with B’ville, Liverpool first had to get past Henninger last Tuesday, and needed a late surge to subdue the Black Knights in a 2-0 decision.
Kept out of the net by Henninger goalie Lubenda Echeni (who finished with eight saves) early, the Warriors stayed patient and, in the second half, leaned on Jordan Burlingame, who scored one goal and assisted on the other, by Jake Zona.
