Great as it was for the Liverpool boys soccer team to climb to no. 8 in the state Class AA rankings following its 1-0 win over Baldwinsville on Sept. 13, it did not let down.
A 2-0 shutout of Cicero-North Syracuse followed a couple of days later at the Gillette Road Complex. Then the Warriors earned another big road win last Thursday at Swan Pond, where it edged defending sectional champion Fayetteville-Manlius 1-0.
Each team came into this game with a five-game win streak. F-M having recovered well after an uneven 0-1-1 start.
Right from the outset, Liverpool, and Ian Zingaro in particular, generated opportunities, only to see them closed up by a tough F-M defense that limited the visitors to low-percentage shots.
However, the other side was even quieter. Led by Jack Pento, Connor McClain and Mitch Sovan, the Warriors’ back line stifled anything that the Hornets tried to generate, Ben White only having to make three saves.
For the majority of the night, Liverpool got frustrated against F-M goalie Chris Szidat, whose best stop was a diving deflection of Zingaro’s line drive early in the second half.
Then, with 9:54 left in regulation, the Hornets got whistled for a handball inside the 18-yard box, a penalty kick. Zingaro took it, shooting left – but Szidat again made the stop.
F-M wasn’t as lucky three minutes later, with another foul that led to another Warriors chance from the penalty spot. This time, Justin Lombard took it and he didn’t miss.
A seventh straight win followed Saturday at LHS Stadium against Corcoran, with Liverpool prevailing 3-1 as first-half goals by Zingaro, Jake Zona and Uttam Bhattari proved enough. Brady Barnard joined Zingaro in the assist column.
Meanwhile, C-NS, after its loss to Liverpool, tried to bounce back at Baldwinsville last Tuesday night, but could not quite do so, falling 2-1 to the Bees.
The Northstars’ defense did a terrific job in the game’s latter stages, but only after a first half where Jason Hahn and Jacob Way had put in goals to put B’ville in front.
Trying to break its slump Friday against Henninger before it played F-M on Tuesday night at Gillette, C-NS did so, its offense finally showing some real life in a 5-2 victory over the Black Knights.
Jawad Kasimi was the Northstars’ catalyst, delivering three assists as Joe Barraco earned a pair of goals. Elyas Ayad, Cameron Houser and Jon Kilment had one goal apiece.
