C-NS boys soccer battles to OT win over West Genesee

ONONDAGA COUNTY – Even though it was the Liverpool boys soccer team parked at no. 7 in the state Class AAA rankings, Cicero-North Syracuse was starting to draw attention for its work on both ends.

Winless in its first six games, the Northstars continued its midseason turnaround Tuesday night when it pushed West Genesee into overtime and then pulled out a 1-0 decision.

Eighty minutes of regulation featured a stout C-NS defense which had shut out Henninger and Corcoran/ITC the week before and, here, limited the Wildcats to five shots, all stopped by Tyler Munnich.

In regulation the Northstars had plenty of its own chances, only to get turned back. This changed in the first OT period when Titus Dimitroff, taking a pass from Dante Melfi, put it past Boston Crandall and into the WG net.

Then, playing Corcoran/ITC on Thursday afternoon, C-NS rolled again, this time by a 5-0 margin with Melfi and Brayden Esposito at the forefront.

Pulling away in the late going, the Northstars saw Melfi and Esposito each finish with a pair of goals, the other goal going to Dimitroff, who also had an assist,

Now the Northstars would prepare for a string of late-season tests that includes a visit from state Class AAA no. 6-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius Tuesday and next Thursday’s rematch with Liverpool, whom it lost to in a 2-1 decision on Sept. 17 and was off all of last week.