ONONDAGA COUNTY – Passing the midway point of their respective regular seasons, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer teams would face important tests against West Genesee.
Going first, the Warriors were home at LHS Stadium to take on the Wildcats, and while stingy again on defense, it could not get on the board and took a 1-0 loss.
Neither team scored in the first half. Then, as Liverpool continued to struggle on on end, WG broke through when Anthony Pontello took a pass from Tyler Wavercak and fired home the go-ahead goal.
None of the Warriors’ five shots got past Wildcats goalie Kyle Bastable, and now it was C-NS’s turn to take on WG when they met Thursday at the Gillette Road complex.
Amid wet and windy conditions, both sides struggled for opportunities as the match ended in a 0-0 draw.
An effective defense gave the Northstars ample time to carve out opportunities, but in the 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime it managed just five shots, all stopped by Anthony Augello matching Liverpool’s meager output.
C-NS had started the week coming off a 0-0 draw with Baldwinsville on Sept. 17, the same team it would face again early this week, when it took on winless Henninger and got a 5-0 shutout of the Black Knights.
Dante Melfi seized the spotlight, his three-goal hat trick part of an early surge that produced a 4-0 halftime lead.
Sean Graves had one goal and one assist, with Jacob Dietter also finding the net as Gagan Adhikari and Jackson Petzoldt earned assists.
After its loss to West Genesee, Liverpool rested until Saturday, when it fell 3-1 to Nottingham at LHS Stadium as Felix Loselose would produce two of the Bulldogs’ three goals.
Now C-NS would have home games against Baldwinsville and Corcoran this week as Liverpool travels to Fayetteville-Manlius and Nottingham on back-to-back nights.
