For 75-plus minutes of last Monday night’s Section III Class AA championship game at Jamesville-DeWitt, all was going to plan for the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team.
True, the Northstars had not got on the board against top-seeded, state no. 5-ranked Baldwinsville, but it was defending its own end quite well, and was a few minutes away from dragging the Bees into overtime.
But at just the wrong time, the C-NS defensive blueprint backfired on them, and with a pair of late tallies the Bees prevailed 2-0 to claim its first sectional title in five years, denying the Northstars its first crown since 2013.
Though C-NS lost both regular-season meetings with B’ville, it was one of two teams all season to notch a goal against the Bees, and were a more confident team now, having toppled its other main rival, Liverpool, 1-0 in OT in the Oct. 23 sectional semifinals.
For defenders like Isaac Bowne, Dan Kliment and Carter Jackson, the main assignment was clear – contain B’ville forward Josh Price, whose ability to generate scoring chances had resulted in two goals in a 3-0 semifinal win over Fayetteville-Manlius.
Even with all of these plans, though, Price still found himself open for two point-blank chances in the game’s opening minutes, only to get respites when Price passed them off to teammates Tyler Johnson and Jason Hahn, who could not convert.
That only led to more pressure on Price, which worked for the rest of the first half and much of the second half, too. Ethan Doerschuk stayed cool in the net, recording nine saves.
C-NS did not stay in a defensive crouch for the entire game, though. It made a fair share of runs against a Bees defense that had recorded 16 shutouts, but saw all six of its shots scooped up by Nate Hanna.
As it entered the final minutes of regulation still 0-0, Price left the game to get a breather, but then returned, the Northstars again focusing its attention on keeping Price from any open looks.
And that proved costly. With 4:29 left, Jacob Way, open down the left side, worked toward the corner and sent a perfect cross to the middle, where Michael Allen got the step and sent a screaming header out of Doerschuk’s reach into the net.
Now needing a goal, C-NS would get a few late looks, including a corner kick, but were turned away as Price clinched it in the final minute by forcing a turnover at midfield and going on a solo breakaway, sliding the ball past a charging Doerschuk.
So ended a 10-5-3 season for the Northstars, who will see seven senior starters graduate – Doerschuk, Bowne, Kliment, Bryant Perdomo, Elyas Ayad, Max Euceda and Cameron Houser. Jackson, leading scorer Joe Barraco, Brody Scorzelli and Jawad Kasimi are set to lead the returning cast in 2019.
