ONONDAGA COUNTY – A big part of the next chapter for the Cicero-North Syracuse boys soccer team is moving on from Wyatt Dupell, the goalkeeper who led the Northstars to last fall’s Section III Class AA championship.
Even more important, though, is the fact that a switch by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association to six classes has put C-NS in the Class AAA portion, with only a few local rivals joining them come October.
In the meantime, many new starters took the field during the season-opening C-NS Optimist Tournament, which commenced Aug. 31 at the Gillette Road complex.
After Utica Prctor beat reigning three-time state Class B champion Skaneateles 1-0, the Northstars faced New Hartford and was kept off the board in a 2-0 defeat to the Spartans.
Niko Servider did a strong job in the net for C-NS, recording nine saves. Still, New Hartford converted once in each half, goals by Aly Radwan and Dylan Merill making the difference as the Spartans limited the Northstars to just three shots all game.
C-NS rebounded a day later with a 2-1 win over Utica Proctor, all the goals coming in the first half. Dante Melfi and Titus Dimitroff scored for the Northstars to offset Dae Eh Ko’s tally for the Raiders, and the defense made it stick over the last 40 minutes, Servider only having to make one save.
All this led to last Tuesday’s SCAC Metro division opener against Baldwinsville, off to its own 1-1 start. Here, though, the Bees seemed to announce its intention to return to the top as it prevailed 2-0 over C-NS.
Once again, the Northstars found it difficult to generate scoring chances, held to five shots. B’ville didn’t have many more opportunities, but converted once in each half, Aiden Baker and Michael Sacco getting the goals.
Liverpool, who could prove to be C-NS’s other main challenger in the AAA sectional battle, had its own two-day tournament of games on Labor Day weeekend at LHS Stadium.
It started on the morning of Sept. 1 with a 0-0 draw against Westhill. The two Warriors sides battled for 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, Liverpool goalie Jacob McQuatters able to stop all eight shots he faced.
Facing Watertown the next afternoon, the Warriors got into the win column, blanking the Cyclones 2-0 as both goals came in the first half.
Dominic Paolini and Antonio Wilson had those goals, Connor Lynch grabbing an assist and watching as the Liverpool defense held Watertown to a mere three shots.
Then it was Liverpool taking the measure of B’ville exactly one week later, and with tremendous defense from start to finish was able to edge the Bees 1-0 for its third consecutive shutout.
Neither team could break through until the second half, when the Warriors’ Evan Belfield converted. To keep that margin, Liverpool’s back line clamped down further, ultimately seeing McQuatters earn another shutout thanks to his seven saves.
C-NS also played Saturday, against PSLA-Fowler, and beat the Falcons 4-1, an offensive breakout where it converted twice in the first half and twice more late to pull away and move to 2-2 on the season.
Melfi, with a goal and two assists, led a well-balanced attack, Max Klasen getting one goal and one assist. Jackson Petzoldt and Gourav Adhikari also found the net by game’s end as Vincent Edwards added an assist.
On Tuesday night, it was C-NS against Liverpool at LHS Stadium, with the Northstars also getting a 2023 sectional finals rematch with West Genesee and hosting Central Square by week’s end.
