Panthers continue to struggle
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

There certainly is a huge gap between strong and weak teams in ECIC Division I boys soccer this season.

So much so that if Sweet Home, 3-8 in league play and 3-14 overall beat West Seneca West on Tuesday, there's a chance the Panthers could host a playoff game next week, said Panthers coach Scott Martin.

Sweet Home's recent wins have come over Lake Shore, 3-1, on Oct. 2 and West Seneca East, 2-1, last Friday.

Three Panthers scored their first career goals against Lake Shore - senior midfielders Mamane Hamza and Brian Mazurowski and senior defender Aaron Klein. Martin said senior goalie Tim Arnold recorded his first career shutout.

Martin called the West Seneca East win the highlight of the season. Tied 1-1 at halftime, junior Nick Cavalieri scored on a header into the upper corner of the net 15 minutes into the second half on a cross from junior Eric Daigler. Cavalieri leads the Panthers with eight goals.

In most other contents, Martin said his team has only been able to keep up with teams for the first half of games.

"We were down 1-0 with Williamsville East, 0-0 with Iroquois and 1-1 with Hamburg at halftime and lost 4-1, 5-0, and 4-0, respectively," said Martin. "We can't run with teams for 90 minutes; it's not even close. We're getting better but it's been frustrating."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com