From an 0-2 start, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team had recovered with back-to-back wins before it had to confront reigning Section III Class AA champion Baldwinsville.
That game took place last Friday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, where the Northstars would put up quite an effort, yet fall just short in a 2-1 defeat to the Bees.
William Darko found his way through B’ville’s defenses to net a goal, only to get answered by tallies from the Bees’ duo of Evan Smith and Chase Hornsey.
To its credit, the Northstars mostly limited the Bees’ chances, and made plenty of runs of its own, only to have Owen Tracy make five saves that allowed B’ville to hang on.
Prior to that, C-NS had hosted West Genesee last Tuesday at the Gillette Road complex, and with a late goal did enough to edge the Wildcats 1-0.
Among other things, WG had taken B’ville to overtime earlier this season, so it was good for the Northstars to hold them in check throughout the night, limiting the Wildcats to three shots.
Patient at the other end, C-NS finally broke through in the second half courtesy of junior midfielder Zayne Throckmorton, who delivered an unassisted goal past WG’s Josh Farrell, who had otherwise made six saves.
Liverpool had, of course, defeated C-NS 1-0 in the first full week of October. When it returned to action last Wednesday against Oswego, the Warriors unleashed its attack in a big way during a 5-1 victory over the Buccaneers.
Faisal Samim would prove the spark, earning a career-best three assists as his passes went to, among others, Jaiden Reynolds, who would score twice.
Uttam Bhattarai finished with one goal and one assist, while Kamal Basnet and Antonio Wilson also found the net. Edis Omerovic added an assist.
This led the Warriors into Friday night’s game at West Genesee, where the Wildcats looked to bounce back from its loss to C-NS, but Liverpool denied this by claiming yet another 1-0 decision.
Reynolds put in what proved to be the game’s only goal, assisted by Omerovic. Then the Warriors’ defense took over, stifling WG and holding them to one direct shot at Evan Buda.
