ONONDAGA COUNTY – As it started 4-1-1 and claimed the no. 14 state Class AA ranking, the Liverpool girls soccer team was far from satisfied.
That was because the Warriors’ lone defeat had come in an overtime game where a one-goal lead on rival Cicero-North Syracuse turned into a 2-1 defeat.
Stung by that result, Liverpool had already bounced back well when, last Tuesday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, it gain found itself in OT, but this time did what it needed to prevail 1-0 over Baldwinsville.
For 80 minutes of regulation, they battled to a statlemate, neither team getting a go-ahead goal.
B’ville gained more opportuntiies, yet were not able to find the net, stopped by a stingy Warriors defense. Sophia Jarosz, Sienna Villa, Ashlyn Brown, Cam Thompson, Mikayla Perry and Molly Ryan all took turns halting Bees runs as goalie Emily Rath managed to amass eight saves.
It went into OT 0-0, and the first extra period went scoreless, too, as did much of the second OT as a draw loomed.
With just three minutes left, though, the Warriors made one more attack and, off a feed from Jailyn Parrotte who was streaking down the right side, Mya Wright was able to put it past Alyssa Luce for the game-winner.
Now Liverpool steeled itself for another big game on Wednesday against state no. 19-ranked West Genesee, all part of a stretch of six games in eight days.
Whether it was the quick turnaround or some other factor, the Warriors quickly fell behind and lost, 2-0, unable to answer two first-half goals by the Wildcats’ Gio Vigliotti as Liverpool managed just three shots all night.
Yet another big game followed Friday against Fayetteville-Manlius, with Liverpool again getting dragged into overtime before it lost, 3-2, to the Hornets.
All this followed an 8-0 win over Oneonta Sept. 18 at the tail end of a weekend tournament where it had also defeated another Section IV team, Elmira, 4-0.
Against the Yellowjackets, Grace Muller and Alexa Marsh each netted a pair of goals. Parrotte and Hope Adugin both earned one goal and one assist, with Ryan picking up three assists as Wright and Bella Melfi also converted.
Two nights before Liverpool met F-M, C-NS took its turn against the reigning two-time sectional Class AA champions and were kept off the board in a 1-0 defeat.
What made this effort so frustrating was that the Northstars had a clear majority of the opportunities throughout the night, taking nine shots, which were all stopped by Hornets goalie Mackenzie Murphy.
Meanwhile, C-NS was quite stingy, yet saw the 0-0 deadlock broken up when F-M’s Morgan Goodman put it past Meghan McGrath for what proved to be the game-winner.
Now with its own game against Baldwinsville on Saturday, C-NS would lean heavily on the duo of Marissa Rio and Maya Germain to put together a 3-2 victory over the Northstars.
A pair of quick goals put the Northstars up 2-0, and then, after B’ville closed the gap to one, it stayed patient until a goal late in the second half allowed it to withstand a late Bees tally.
Through it all, Rio, with two goals, and Germain, with one goal and one assist, led the way. Katalina Lawrence added an assist as McGrath finished with five saves.
As this went on, Liverpool’s sixth game in eight days against unbeaten East Syracuse Minoa resulted in a 4-0 loss to the Spartans, who were led by Jazzel Meikelham’s two goals and Natalie Peterson’s goal and two assists.
