PHOENIX – One moment, Dante Melfi found himself pushing a host into the right side of the net.
Within seconds, he was surrounded by all of his Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer teammates along with students who spilled onto the field a Firebird Stadium in Phoenix, celebrating a championship.
“I can’t even speak,” said Melfi. “And I won’t be able to sleep for the rest of the week.”
It was Melfi’s goal, 9:15 into overtime, that gave the Northstars a 1-0 victory over West Genesee in Tuesday night’s Section III Class AA final.
And it completed quite a turnaround for a C-NS side that was 3-3-3 in late September, but has won nine of 10 games since.
“The players just bought into the system and we flipped a switch,” said senior goalie Wyatt Dupell.
Of course, it was Dupell’s free-kick goal in double OT that, on Oct. 26, knocked out top seed and defending champion Fayetteville-Manlius and got the Northstars into the sectional final.
Once there, C-NS found a West Genesee side that, while not potent in its attack, was able, on the defensive side, to constantly frustrate the Northstars throughout the 80 minutes of regulation.
Dupell said that, as the second half wore on, WG was able to control more of the game’s flow, though again Zach Schott, Adam Bonnier, Colin Stanton, Jacob Dietter and the rest of the back line mostly held its own and limited good scoring opportunities.
Once back in OT, where it had to go to defeat F-M, C-NS again increased its pressure, with Melfi among many different forwards trying to create space and challenge Wildcats goalie Anthony Augello.
On the decisive play, Melfi positioned himself in front of the net while Dietter made an unsuccessful run. But the ball bounded out to junior midfielder Hunter Lawless, who, situated on the right side, quickly passed it to the middle.
Then, said Melfi, “I just turned and let it fly.”
The shot didn’t have a lot of power on it, but it flew past Augello, and brought the Northstars a sectional title, plus a chance to go after the program’s first-ever state championship.
In Saturday’s AA regional final in Troy, C-NS will face Section II champion Shaker, who also needed overtime to win its sectional final 4-3 over Saratoga Springs after surrendering a 3-1 lead late in regulation. The winner advances to the Nov. 12-13 state final four in Middletown.
