This is the week where the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls soccer teams have their first head-to-head battle at Archie Hall Stadium, each of them in real need of a boost.
The gap between these two teams and the top sides in the SCAC Metro division, Baldwinsville and Fayetteville-Manlius, was on display early last week as the Northstars and Warriors took league defeats to them.
Liverpool may have felt more frustration because, in last Tuesday’s game against B’ville at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, it kept the game scoreless through halftime, only to get run over by the Bees’ Hannah Mimas in a 5-1 defeat.
Early in the second half, Mimas broke the 0-0 deadlock, and quickly followed with a second goal. Then Mimas put the game away with two more goals before Gretchen Perine scored in the final minutes.
Amid this barrage, Liverpool was able to avert the shutout as Alexandra Rancier put in a goal with eight minutes left. Mikayla Perry finished with four saves.
Then it was C-NS’s turn to face B’ville on Thursday night, and though it was close until the final minutes, again the Bees proved too good with a late surge that led to a 4-1 defeat for the Northstars.
Mimas and Simone Neivel both found the net in the first half, and C-NS trailed, 2-0, when with 13 minutes left it briefly revived hopes for the home fans when Madelyn Jackson netted an unassisted goal.
Under pressure all night, Ava Field made 10 saves to keep C-NS close, but it was Mimas putting the game away as she found the net with 1:48 left and then added a free-kick goal in the final seconds for her second hat trick of the week.
This followed last Tuesday’s trip to F-M, which proved rough for the Northstars as the Hornets, despite playing for the fourth time in six days, ran past C-NS 6-0.
Unlike with Liverpool’s game against B’ville, F-M didn’t wait to get on the board, finding the net four times in the first half alone and overcoming six saves by C-NS goalie Ally Byrnes.
Yet similar to how Mimas burned Liverpool, Lauren Clark did the same to C-NS as the Hornets’ sophomore forward netted four goals, with single goals going to Anna Hartzheim and Chloe Hodge.
Liverpool could not recover from this on Thursday night, when on its home field it fell 4-0 to a West Genesee side that scored three times in the second half to pull clear.
Between them, Perry and Brittany Burns finished with seven saves, yet WG had Emily Dunning earn two goals, with Katrina Tessier earning a pair of assists. Single goals went to Sarah Petrus and Samantha Snyder.
