Having made it this far without a blemish, the Cicero-North Syracuse field hockey team wanted nothing less than perfection.
It would all end Thursday night, the Northstars squaring off with Canastota at Bragman Stadium and, with a comfortable 5-0 victory, finish at 14-0 – the first undefeated season in program history.
Canastota was a replacement for Fayetteville-Manlius, who had to cancel its last game due to COVID-19 concerns at its own high school.
Regardless of the opponent, though, C-NS would flourish, taking charge in the first quarter as Gabby Wameling scored twice, her 11th and 12th goals of the season.
By halftime, it was 3-0 as Chrissy Wagner hit on her eighth goal this fall. To clinch it, the Northstars struck twice more in the second half, each of them goals by Jamie Snyder to bring her season total to 12, matching Wameling.
Wagner finished the night with three assists, giving her seven for the season, two behind Snyder. And the C-NS defense smothered Canastota, limiting it to one shot overall.
Of the 14 wins, 10 of them were shutouts, C-NS never allowing more than one goal in any game. Only Cortland, on Oct. 7, took the Northstars to overtime, a game that ended 1-0 with Wameling’s game-winner.
Before it faced Canastota, C-NS had taken apart East Syracuse Minoa in another 5-0 romp Monday night, an instance where relentless pressure wore down the Spartans.
Having beaten this same team 4-1 in mid-October, the Northstars were modest in the first half of the rematch, only up 1-0 thanks to Wameling’s goal.
But Snyder took over in the third quarter, scoring to double the margin to two and then assisting on Chrissy Wagner’s goal to make it 3-0. Snyder and Wagner both converted again in the final period.
As for Liverpool, the improvement it showed throughout the fall was not reflected in its 3-6-1 record prior to its Nov. 5 game against ESM at Spartan Stadium.
And the Warriors would add to that win total, topping the Spartans 2-1 just as it did in their first meeting Oct. 15.
Overcoming eight saves from ESM goalie Maura Leib plus a goal by Olivia Grabowski, Liverpool had Gianna Carbone and Caitlyn Guilfoil find the net, with assists credited to Mia Berthoff and Riley Techmanski. McKenna Ecker had three saves to preserve the win.
Liverpool then made it four straight wins Monday by blanking Auburn 3-0. Carbone again was effective, twice putting in goals with another goal scored by Rebekah Davie. Berthoff and Chloe Muller had one assist apiece.
Now, in its season finale against Baldwinsville, the Warriors would get a better indication of its improvement as it attempted to avenge a 1-0 defeat to the Bees earlier this fall.
But the Bees used a first-half scoring surge to subdue Liverpool 4-0, led by Rebecca Mantione, who got two goals and one assist as Victoria Schultz and Emma Hollenbeck had the other goals, Schultz adding an assist.
