Those practiced in the art of telling unlikely stories about unlikely winners would have loved to see the Liverpool boys soccer team, who were once 3-10 this season, knock off undefeated, state no. 2-ranked Baldwinsville in Monday night’s Section III Class AA final at Jamesville-DeWitt.
But the Bees had no interest in fairy tales of any kind. It simply wanted to defend its title and then go after the programs’ first-ever state championship.
In the end, reality won over romance as B’ville navigated some tough playing conditions and, taking over in the second half, prevailed 3-0 over the Warriors to earn its eighth overall sectional title, all of them in the last 13 years.
Everyone knew the long odds Liverpool had overcome just to get this far, having to win its last three regular-season games just to make the playoffs, then shocking no. 2 seed Fayetteville-Manlius in the sectional quarterfinals.
Following its 3-1 semifinal win over Henninger, the Warriors now had to try and catch up to a 17-0-1 B’ville side that had beaten them by 3-0 and 4-1 margins earlier this fall.
An aid from the heavens seemed to arrive with strong, gusty winds that were in Liverpool’s favor throughout the first half. Against this, the Bees found it difficult to maintain possession or kick the ball deep since, often, shots in the air got hung up in that breeze.
The Warriors made a series of runs, yet also had its own difficulties managing shots. Even when it earned a close free kick late in the half, Jack Pento sent it well over the net.
By then, the Bees had a 1-0 lead, a series of low passes in the 30th minute culminating in Brennan Walsh taking a feed from defender Dylan Killian and hitting a low shot past Liverpool goalie Dan Schaeber.
It remained that way until early in the second half. Now with the helping wind, B’ville had a far easier task setting up attacks, and in the 46th minute Tyler Johnson, working from left, crossed to the middle, where Evan Smith headed it home.
Ten minutes later, an exclamation point was offered by Stephen Foertch, who pounced on a Warriors turnover and, from 30 yards shot, drilled a hard shot into the right side of the net.
Though the Warriors had a few scattered opportunities, its post-season magic finally ran out, though it could not take away from the resilience it had showed turning a lost campaign into a memorable finish.
In Saturday’s AA regional final, B’ville will face Section II champion Shenendehowa, no. 3 in the state rankings, who had to go to overtime to upend Bethlehem 1-0 in its sectional final. The winner between the Bees and Plainsmen goes to the Nov. 16-17 state final four in Middletown.
