From its 0-5 low point in late September, the Marcellus boys soccer team is now back at the .500 mark, ready to make a serious post-season push. The Mustangs had a strong second-place showing at its own tournament over the Columbus Day weekend, beating East Syracuse-Minoa 2-1 in overtime in Saturday’s opening round, but dropping a tight 1-0 match to undefeated Clinton in Monday’s final. Entering the tournament, Marcellus was riding a five-game win streak. And it didn’t dissipate against ESM, a high-quality Class A opponent. Neither the Mustangs nor Spartans scored in the first half. But Marcellus got on the board in the second half as Eric Dorio found the net, matching the tally from ESM’s Irfan Tihic. So they went to a single 15-minute overtime period. Here, Nate Waite, who has emerged as the Mustangs’ top offensive threat, beat Spartan goalie Casey Sullivan for the game-winner, his 14th goal of the season. This came after Clinton edged Watertown IHC 1-0 in the other half of the opening round, improving to 13-0 with its eighth shutout of the season. On monday, after ESM defeated IHC 3-1 in the consolation game, Marcellus got its shot at the state Class B no. 6-ranked Warriors. Right away, Marcellus got a hint at why Clinton is so difficult to face. The Warriors had up to four defenders back any time the Mustangs posted a threat. That helped protect Rob Larkin, who did not have to make a difficult stop in the first half. Just past the midway point of the first half, the Warriors earned a free kick. After two set-up touches, James Short launched a 30-yard shot past Eric Deggett inside the right post, putting Clinton ahead. Daggett, helped by defenders Liam Carroll, Chad Johnson, Adam Kinsella and Matt Tice, did an effective job the rest of the game keeping Clinton from adding to its lead, giving the Mustangs lots of time to pull even. However, Clinton would not yield anything. Twice in the last 10 minutes, Dorio earned free kicks deep in the Warriors’ end, but hit one over the net and faced a seven-man wall on the other, floating the ball harmlessly into Larkin’s hands.