This soccer story starts with a brief soccer drill.

Take a look at the at the large school top 10 poll for boys soccer.

Count the teams from Williamsville.

Now count the teams from Cheektowaga.

That's right, they're tied at two.

A tremendous turnaround at Cheektowaga has the Warriors at No. 6 in the large school poll,

somewhere they haven't been in the program's 29 years of existence. No. 9 Maryvale is in the

poll for the first time since 2006.

When Maryvale handed Cheektowaga its first loss of the season, 3-1, Monday, it was the

first time Cheektowaga's boys soccer teams took the field against each other while both were in

the top 10.

In fact, until Williamsville North vaulted itself into the poll with its recent remarkable

run — beating highly ranked teams Lancaster, Clarence and Williamsville South in three

straight games — Cheektowaga had two ranked teams to Williamsville's one. In recent

years all three of Williamsville's teams — South, North and East — have been

regulars in the top 10. It's no surprise to see Clarence, Grand Island, Canisius, Lancaster

and Lockport to be ranked either.

Not only are the two Cheektowaga schools not traditional powers, they are two of the

smallest large schools in the section. Maryvale is the smallest Class A school — while

Cheektowaga is the sixth-smallest in Class A.

"Being a graduate of Maryvale, I can tell you it's the same kind of kid," said 12th-year

Cheektowaga coach Matt Haberl, whose team struggled to winless seasons in 1998 and 2005. "It's

a middle class kid that just works hard. We're not the soccer powerhouses, but a kid from

Cheektowaga or Maryvale doesn't know how to quit. You've got to play us for 80 minutes. If you

don't, you're in trouble."

Before the season, Cheektowaga senior captain Mark Visbisky took a picture of Cheektowaga's

banner that hangs in the gym.

Like most sport-specific banners hung up in high schools, it has space for league titles

and sectional titles. But the maroon banner with "boys soccer" at the top is blank.

Visbisky printed out the photo of the barren banner and posted it on the wall of the boys

soccer locker room as an extra reminder.

"We all knew we could do it," said Visbisky, who is a captain along with Dominic Parisi

(eight goals) and Josh Weigand. "This might not be the most athletic team ever or the greatest

soccer team ever, but everyone here wants it, and ultimately that's what it takes. [Our

success] is not a surprise to us. I'm sure it's a surprise to everyone else in Western New

York. We told people we were going to go the distance this year, and people thought we were

crazy."

Cheektowaga (12-1-2, 8-1-2) can wrap up that first league title when it concludes its

regular season Wednesday at home against last-place Pioneer. A loss by the Warriors would open

the door Wednesday for Maryvale (11-2-2, 8-2-1), which plays at Starpoint, or Amherst (8-2-1

league), which plays at Springville.

Cheektowaga has key players from the front, where talented junior Pablo Ordonez leads ECIC

III in goals with 16, to the back, where a stout defense has helped senior Jon Klein to a

league-best six shutouts. Sophomores Vinny Parisi and Gabe Foster have excelled at midfield.

Maryvale is a balanced team which shares the ball extremely well. The Flyers have had 14

different players score goals this season, led by sophomore Joe Gabor (10), freshman Justin

Viengmay (seven) and junior Jared Starzynski (six). Senior Brandon Macie has nine assists

while junior Shawn Powers has seven.

In Monday night's prime-time matchup at Cheektowaga, Joe Gabor scored in a first half that

ended 1-1. With a little over 17 minutes to go, Viengmay scored on a breakaway, putting the

ball away in the bottom right-hand corner after a through ball from Starzynski. Junior Sean

Powers scored on a direct kick with three minutes left from just outside the 18-yard line.

Eighth-year Maryvale coach Tom Staebell credited senior defender Brandon Macie with thwarting

Cheektowaga's talented strikers.

Both coaches credit the Cheektowaga Soccer Club for helping develop local talent as other

areas do. The Cheektowaga Soccer Club was founded in 1993. After originally focusing on the

Maryvale district it branched out to all of the Town of Cheektowaga and registers over 500

players a year. Tom Staebell also credited the Barnabas Athletic Association for its youth

leagues helping develop local players.

"When I grew up in Clarence, [the youth programs] were the reason they were always good,"

said Staebell.

The Section VI tournament begins next week, with the seedings and schedule to be announced

Saturday. Cheektowaga and Maryvale will be teams to watch in the Class A bracket.

"All of us played together — [the success] for the club is terrific," said Maryvale

senior fullback Frank Thompson. "Whether it be for Maryvale or [Cheektowaga] Central. If

Maryvale wins, Maryvale's gaining pride and Cheektowaga Soccer Club gets a little bit. And

it's vice versa if Central wins."