CENTRAL NEW YORK – Right before they went to the Section III Class AAA playoffs the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team would have a possible championship-game preview.
The state no. 13-ranked Hornets would tangle with no. 11-ranked Liverpool, having beat the Warriors 2-1 the first time they met this season.
This rematch proved far different, though, as Liverpool took control early and never let go of it on the way to beating F-M 3-0.
Once Liverpool got on the board in the first half it only seemed to relax, leading to another goal and a 2-0 advantage going to the break.
As the Warriors’ back line held the Hornets to just three total shots, it added one more to the margin as Dominic Paolini, with one goal and one assist, led the way. Jared Reynolds got a goal, as did Connor Lynch.
Back on Tuesday, Henry Dougherty helped F-M complete a regular-season sweep of West Genesee in a 2-0 decision at Hornets Stadium.
Dougherty put in one goal and assisted on the other, by Keshav Gangireddy, while Tom Helmer picked up an assist. F-M’s tough defense limited the Wildcats to four shots, all stopped by Jeremy Albert.
Against New Hartford Thursday night, the Hornets got another shutout, this one a 3-0 decision where Albert and fellow goalie Andrew Hoehner combined to stop all seven of the Spartans’ shot.
On the other end, F-M’s balance and depth showed as, up 1-0 at halfitme, it pulled away with goals from three different players – Helmer, Gangireddy and Broc Pinkerton – along with assists from Tyler Hutz, Antoine Aombe and Grant Webster.
This last week of the regular season also included Manlius Pebble Hill taking on Bishop Grimes Tuesday afternoon and the Trojans ripping past the Cobras 8-1.
Not only did MPH score four times in each half, it had eight different players get those eight goals, with Nick Lurvey (one goal, one assist). Emre Mermer and Eric Hu (two assists apiece) leading the attack.
Sam Lurvey, Andy Lurvey, Dash Goode, Calvin Towne, Dan Ford, Jacob Temes and Brody Cook all took turns finding the net. Omari Swedi and Jorge Niderhoff also earned assists.
MPH’s strong late-season push continued Thursday night in a game against Frankfort-Schuyler, with the Trojans rallying in overtime to get past the Maroon Knights 2-1.
Down 1-0 at the half thanks to Connor Grates’ goal, the Trojans saw that deficit linger for most of the second half before Sam Lurvey broke through with eight minutes left off a feed from Nick Lurvey.
Now in OT, MPH maintained the momentum, quickly attacking and, just two minutes into the extra frame, winning it when Cook beat F-S goalie Nick Russo on an unassisted goal.
Grimes went from the loss to MPH to earning a 1-1 draw with Solvay Thursday night. Eddie Koroma’s goal in the first half put the Cobras in front 1-0, but Ali Karim tied it for the Bearcasts in the second half and it stayed there the rest of the way.
