ONONDAGA COUNTY – Whether the pressure of an undefeated regular season got to the Cicero-North Syracuse girls soccer team at the wrong moment in 2021 will always be an open question.
But the Northstars’ defeat to Liverpool in that Section III Class AA semifinal stung plenty, and gave a large group of returning players a heap of motivation for 2022.
One thing is for certain, though – C-NS won’t go to the post-season undefeated, knocked off in its season opener by Central Square in a 3-1 defeat.
Two players were the story here. One was Ryan Colton, who gave the Redhawks all three of its goals for a well-timed hat trick.
Much of the rest of the time, the Northstars were in Central Square’s end, yet could get nothing past Redhawks goalie Samantha Haley, who managed to stop all 19 shots she faced.
In all, C-NS would play its first five matches on the road, including last Tuesday’s trip to Whitesboro, where it reversed the results of the season opener, prevailing by that same 3-1 margin.
No one on Whitesboro could stop Emilee Rio, who put in all three of her team’s goals for a hat trick, twice off feeds from Alison Dimitrijevski as McKenna Slate also ha d an assist. Goalie Meghan McGrath recorded five saves.
Liverpool, still basking in adulation after that stunning playoff win over C-NS, began 2022 on a good note as it played traditional Class A power Jamesville-DeWitt to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 3.
Neither team scored in the first half and then exchanged goals after intermission, with Grace Muller converting for Liverpool off a pass from Alexa Marsh and Brooke Bort converting for J-D.
The Warriors able to keep the Red Rams quiet through 20 minutes of a new overtime format where a “golden goal” would end it. Hannah Smith had seven saves, with J-D counterpart Lindsay Parker getting eight saves.
Getting its first win of the season last Tuesday, Liverpool blanked Rome Free Academy 4-0 largely thanks to the passing of Alexa Marsh, who dished out a trio of assists.
Jallyn Parrotte scored twice, with Grace Muller and Eliana Scivetti earning single goals. Muller also picked up an assist, the Warriors overcoming 11 saves by Black Knights goalie Miranda McCormick.
Liverpool followed up on Friday with an impressive 5-0 shutout over Fulton to move to 2-0-1 overall, again displaying plenty of scoring balance.
Five different Warriors – Marsh, Muller, Mia Wright, Isabella Melfi and Jailyn Parrotte – earned the five goals, with Molly Ryan and Hope Adigun joining Wright, Muller and Melfi in the assist column.
