Both the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls soccer teams were looking to climb back to the top of the Section III Class AA heap. And both fell just a couple of steps short. The no. 4 seed Warriors dragged top seed Baldwinsville into overtime of last Tuesday night’s AA semifinals at West Genesee, but lost a 1-0 decision. As that was going on, the no. 6 seed Northstars, looking for a second victory over no. 7 seed Fayetteville-Manilus at Chittenango High School’s turf, saw its defense taken apart in the second-half of a 4-1 loss to the Hornets. A heated encounter between Liverpool and B’ville was expected. In their two regular-season meetings – on Sept. 17 and Oct. 15 – the Warriors lost narrow 2-1 decisions. From those games, a belief grew that a third encounter might turn out different. Sure enough, the semifinal turned into a fierce defensive struggle. For 80 minutes of regulation, the Warriors did a sensational job breaking up B’ville’s attacks as Aimee Caluwe, Danielle Sheehan, Chelsea Bowers and the rest of the back line kept it 0-0. Tori Corsaro would finish with 10 saves. Occasionally, the Warriors would have chances to get ahead. In the 23rd minute, it had B’ville goalie Maggie Monnat on the ground, but couldn’t put the ball into the open net as B’ville defender Sarah Lindovski kicked it away. Still, it stayed 0-0 into the 20 required minutes of overtime. Just 2:12 into the extra period, B’ville put together a series of crisp passes. The last of them saw Angelica Romeu give it to Emma Firenze, whose quick shot sailed past Corsaro and into the net. And the Bees maintained that slim edge through the rest of the OT sessions, withstanding a pair of Liverpool corner kicks in the second extra period. The Warriors finish at 13-4-1, with three of those losses coming to B’ville. Just five seniors depart, though they include Caluwe, Kim Murphy and Ally Zywicki, so a chance at that elusive first outright championship since 2001 looms next fall. CNS had a good feeling going into its semifinal against F-M. After all, it had beaten the Hornets 1-0 on Oct. 4 at Swan Pond. But a month later, F-M was a more confident bunch, thanks in large part to its AA quarterfinal upset of no. 2 seed and defending champion CBA, also a 1-0 decision (and revenge for losing the 2009 final to the Brothers).
For a while, though, it looked to be a duplicate of the first game, as they went 0-0 through the first half. Miranda Tanner turned everything back on her way to 10 saves for the night, but F-M’s Nina Quigley (eight saves) was doing the same. It all turned, though, when Bri Dolan scored early in the second half to put the Hornets ahead 1-0. Dolan would score again, with Allison Baynes and Brenna Kincaid also converting, as the game got out of CNS’s reach. Ellen Traub would get a late goal to help her side avoid the shutout. Having finished its season with a 10-5-3 mark, CNS now sees six seniors depart, including Rachel Bowles, Aubrey Harris, Taylor Zelenyak and Alyssa Elwood. Tanner and Traub leads a stellar returning cast for 2011 that includes Stephanie Liberati, Erika Falinski, Aly Falinski, Jill Goettel, Reid Garner and Marissa Puma.