A 1-1 double-overtime draw between Rome Free Academy and Central Valley Academy set the tone heading into the week of October 12-18 — and the schedule that follows is every bit as loaded. Goals from CVA's Mia Ponte and RFA's Avery Bates weren't enough to settle it at Tom Hoke Field. That stalemate still hangs over both programs as they wade into a fixture list with no breathing room.
CVA faces Carthage on Monday morning, then turns around to host Mt. Markham on Tuesday evening. For a squad that couldn't find a winner in 100-plus minutes last week, back-to-back tests this quick will tell you a lot about how deep that roster actually runs.
Friday Nights Under the Lights
High school football takes center stage on Friday the 16th, with Cicero-North Syracuse traveling to Rome Free Academy in what shapes up as the marquee matchup of the week. RFA has already shown resilience on the soccer pitch — the football program will need the same energy against a CNS side that rarely shows up to hand out gifts.
Elsewhere on the football slate, Herkimer visits Westmoreland/Oriskany, Oneida heads to Skaneateles, and New Hartford takes on CVA on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. — a game worth watching for anyone tracking the local power balance. The eight-player game also runs through the weekend, with Frankfort-Schuyler at Cooperstown on Saturday noon.
Weekend Soccer and State Tennis Picture
The Section III individual tennis tournament wraps up with finals at Oneida High School on Thursday, with a seeding meeting for the state qualifying tournament scheduled for Sunday. That meeting will set the bracket for whoever emerges from this week's earlier rounds at Liverpool, Fayetteville-Manlius, Oneida, and Watertown.
On the girls soccer side, Saturday's slate includes several matchups worth tracking for Section playoff seeding:
- Canastota at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, 9:30 a.m.
- Hamilton at Oneida, 11 a.m.
- Cooperstown at Poland, 2 p.m.
- Whitesboro at East Syracuse-Minoa, 1 p.m.
The Tri-Valley League Championship (Section IV) also goes Saturday at Wright National Soccer Campus in Oneonta — both the boys and girls finals are scheduled there, kicking off at 10:15 a.m. and 10 a.m. respectively.
Cross country runs through all three weekend days, with the John Bernard Invitational at Adirondack and the Burnt Hills Invitational at Saratoga Springs State Park headlining Saturday's distance action. Little Falls and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill make the trip to Saratoga — a useful early-morning benchmark before the section meets start tightening the calendar.
Rome Free Academy boys soccer hosts Utica Academy of Science on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., then travels to Whitesboro on Saturday at 1 p.m. Three games in five days for a team that's already deep in the regular-season stretch run.
