A seven-game win streak, capped by consecutive shutouts of Baldwinsville, Cicero-North Syracuse and Fayetteville-Manlius, had pushed the Liverpool boys soccer team up to no. 6 in the state Class AA rankings.
Now the Warriors simply needed to avoid any kind of letdown before facing those teams again in the second round of Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division play, including Monday’s visit from the Northstars and a rematch Friday with the Bees at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
It didn’t prove too difficult at first, with Liverpool going to West Genesee last Tuesday night and unleashing its attack on the Wildcats in the second half of a 5-0 victory.
Staying patient through the early stages, the Warriors only led 1-0 at the break, but then broke free in a matter rarely seen this season as Jake Zona, with two goals, led the way.
Defender Jack Pento got two assists as single goals went to Connor McClain, Justin Lombard and Anes Ibrahimovic, with Ian Zingaro and Dan Schaeber joining McClain with single assists.
Thursday’s game at Nottingham proved a lot more difficult, but the Warriors still made it nine wins in a row, edging the Bulldogs 2-1.
Despite a 4-5-1 record going into the game, Nottingham struck early as Diamond Weah scored, and the game was 1-1 until the second half, when the Warriors pulled ahead for good.
Once again, Ujjwal Chhetri came up with a big goal, while Zingaro assisted on Chhteri’s tally and also set up Aaron Parry’s goal. Bulldogs goalie Ben Ashby had 10 saves.
Back on Tuesady, C-NS hosted Fayetteville-Manlius, whom it had played to a 0-0, weather-shortened draw in the first week of the regular season.
It wouldn’t be scoreless here as Joe Barraco, off a feed from Cameron Hauser, scored in the first half. The Northstars maintained that 1-0 lead at the break as it constantly pressured Hornets goalie Chris Szidat.
However, in the second half, F-M came back, handing C-NS a 2-1 defeat as Riley Burke and Ziad Abdul-Malak put in those goals, with assists going to Ben Hammond and Ty Teelin. Szidat finished with 10 saves, twice the total of Ethan Doerschuk.
On Thursday, C-NS shut out Corcoran 2-0, controlling the tempo and getting most of the opportunities as it converted once in each half. Carter Jackson and Elyas Ayad scored, with Jawad Kasimi picking up an assist.
Having moved to 5-3-2 on the season, C-NS knew it could make everyone pay attention if it conquered Liverpool Monday before games against Nottingham and West Genesee later in the week.
