CENTRAL NEW YORK – Up and down throughout the month of September, the West Genesee boys soccer team needed to find some stability in order to have a real championship opportunity late in October.
Defense again told most of the story for the Wildcats last Tuesday night when it hosted Nottingham, and it played from behind for much of the game, unable to catch up in a 1-0 defeat.
When Ebuela Bilengana put a shot past Boston Crandall in the first half, it had little idea that it would stand up. Yet it did so because the Bulldogs were steady and consistent on defense, holding WG to five shots, all stopped by Conor Leuschke.
That same kind of spirit permeated Thursday night’s game against Fayetteville-Manlius, only here it was the Wildcats emerging triumphant in a 1-0 decision.
Also different was the fact that, here, the first half proved scoreless. It took a second-half tally from Christian Long, assisted by Jake McMahon, to get WG out in front, and great team defense to keep it that way, Boston Crandall grabbing eight saves.
As a follow-up on Saturday, the Wildcats broke out in a 6-0 romp over Auburn, mostly a three-pronged effort. McMahon got two goals and two assists, with Long adding three assists as Logan Scott converted twice. Luke Irvin and Evan Powers had the other goals and Connor Lamberton got an assist, too.
Solvay continued its fine season last Monday night with a tough 1-0 victory over Phoenix at Al Merola Field.
Ali Karim’s goal, assisted by Arkadii Ososkalo, would hold up the rest of the way due to a Bearcats defense that limited the visiting Firebirds to just three shots, all stopped by Redd Long, half the total of Phoenix counterpart Kai Ciary.
At Mexico Friday night, Solvay again found itself in a closely-fought contest and, again, emerged victorious, fighting past the Tigers in a 2-1 decision.
Neither team scored until the second half, when Mexico got on the board, but the Bearcats answered it thanks to goals by Ososkalo and Sam Chipman, with Ole Matyiuk able to assist on both scoring plays. Long would turn back eight of the Tigers’ nine shots.
Jordan-Elbrdige/Cato-Meridian gained its biggest victory of the season last Monday against Bishop Ludden, able to defeat the Gaelic Knights in a 1-0 thriller.
All that either team could manage was Gunnar Gustfason’s goal, assisted by Josh Makarchuk. For the rest of the game, every time Ludden threatened, J-E/Cato turned it back, Alex Kunz stopping all 17 shots he faced as Trey Dennis made 10 saves.
Then J-E tied Faith Heritage 1-1 on Wednesday night, using a goal by Josh Makarchuk to equal one from the Saints’ Henry Jackson and then holding on through overtime as Kunz again made 17 saves.
That same night, Ludden was shut out 1-0 by Fabius-Pompey. In this defensive battle, Dennis had eight saves, but the Gaelic Knights were held to a single shot and could not respond to Dana Ingersoll’s decisive goal.
