CENTRAL NEW YORK – Everywhere else it looks, the West Genesee boys soccer team can glimpse at programs that, at one point or another, rose to the top of the Section III Class AA ranks.
Now the Wildcats want its turn, but just when it had reached the state AA rankings in the no. 19 spot, it got humbled by state no. 11-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius in a 4-1 defeat.
No doubt, the Hornets remembered how WG beat them 2-1 back on Sept. 9 in Camillus and knew that, with a win, it could lock up the top sectional playoff seed.
It took less than 10 minutes for Nick Donnelly to put F-M in front, and Evan Terreri’s header made it 2-0, where it stood at halftime.
Then, in a three-minute stretch midway through the second half, Aiden Burkett and Harrison Kilmer notched goals to double F-M’s margin before Jadin Lyle’s late goal prevented the Wildcats from getting shut out.
Back home on Thursday night to face Liverpool, WG again would keep the Warriors off the board, its 1-0 victory equaling what it did in their Sept. 20 meeting.
Late in the first half, it was 0-0 when Tyler Waevercak, taking a pass from Christian Long, put in the go-ahead goal. Then the defense did a superb job protecting that slim margin, Anthony Augello stopping all eight shots he faced.
In Saturday’s showdown with Cicero-North Syracuse, WG was contained in a 2-0 defeat to the Northstars, who used goals by Aaron Huksic and Gagan Adhikari to overcome eight saves by Augello, dropping the Wildcats’ record to 9-5-2.
Given the no. 6 seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs, the Wildcats will have another match with Liverpool, the no. 3 seed, with the winner to get Utica Proctor or Nottingham in next Tuesday’s semifinals.
Bishop Ludden was 5-7-1 heading into last Monday’s game against Hamilton, but was humbled in a 3-0 defeat to the Emerald Knights.
Zander Craner played in goal for the Gaelic Knights and had 14 saves, but could not keep everything out. Landon Latella led Hamilton, scoring twice as Jimmy Daddio got the other goal and Reese Snyder had two assists.
Then Ludden turned it around on Thursday, beating Solvay 3-1 entirely on the shoulders and strong leg of Sam Colella, who netted all three of the Gaelic Knights’ goals.
Jack Marvin, Jimmy Westers and Andrew Towsley all assisted on Colella’s hat trick, with Dennis getting seven saves. Oleksandr Matyiuk had Solvay’s lone goal, assisted by Shahan Kassim. Reed Long finished with 10 saves.
A day later, Solvay played Syracuse Academy of Science to a 1-1 draw. Matyiuk assisted on Arkadii Ososkalo’s goal as Long kept the Atoms from prevailing with 15 saves in the 100 minutes of regulation and overtime.
Ludden’s regular season concluded Saturday with a 2-2 draw against Mater Dei Academy, the Gaelic Knights unable to hold on to a 2-0 halftime lead as it ultimately earned the no. 12 seed for the sectional Class D playoffs and will face no. 5 seed Hamilton in the opening round
Meanwhile, Jordan-Elbridge was unsure about its post-season fate heading into the final week of the regular season, but took a major step toward getting there last Monday when it beat Faith Heritage 1-0.
They were scoreless until the second half, when the Eagles’ Mason Carvey put a shot past Saints goalie Landon Bregou, who otherwise had made 10 saves. That goal held up, Wyatt Mullen stopping all six shots he faced.
At Bishop Grimes two days later, J-E lost 2-0 to the Cobras, with Mullen making 11 saves, but allowing one goal in each half as Ricardo Morales and Vitor Azeredo scored for Grimes.
Then, against state Class C no. 16-ranked Tully on Friday night, the Eagles lost 4-0. Mullen again had 11 saves, but watched the Black Knights’ Ryan Rauber earn a three-goal hat trick as teammate Diego Iglesias got two assists.
J-E played again on Saturday against SAS and lost, 4-3, not quite able to overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit despite second—half goals by Dominic Rinaldo, Riley Frigon-King and Mason Carvey.
