Both of the Fayetteville-Manlius soccer teams carry championship aspirations – but as the last week of the regular season started, they each knew that they would have to step up a lot to make that possible.
The boys Hornets’ late-season struggles continued as it lost at home for the third time in 13 days last Tuesday night, taking a 3-1 defeat to Baldwinsville.
F-M had won their initial meeting 2-0 on Sept. 4 at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, but things had changed in the month before their rematch, B’ville building a five-game win streak by the time they saw the Hornets again.
Barely a minute into the game, F-M appeared to offer a signal of renewal as Connor Treglia scored off a feed from Joe Amato. But B’ville just as quickly pulled even, 1-1, and then tacked on two more goals before they reached halftime.
Connor Ross took the most advantage of the Hornets’ defensive breakdowns, twice finding the net, while Connor Lunduski managed a goal and assist and Jeff Mahar also had an assist.
Once it had that lead, B’ville still had to get through the second half – which it did, the defense putting together as superb effort to thwart all of F-M’s chances as Nick Lindovski finished with six saves. Ben Obrist saw extended time in goal for the Hornets, recording three saves.
Now the Hornets badly needed any kind of win to get back on track, and got one Thursday, at Nottingham, where a quick start led to a 3-1 victory over the Bulldogs.
Just as it had with B’ville, the Hornets earned some quick goals. The difference was that the defense didn’t allow anything, so F-M carried a 2-0 advantage to the break, and would then answer Nottingham’s lone tally from Ismet Suljic in the second half.
Austin Treglia stepped up to get a goal, as did Adam Bem and Tyler Snow. Tysen Tressness finished with a pair of assists as Ben Obrist, playing a full game in the net, stopped seven of the eight shots he faced.
To make it back-to-back wins, F-M stepped out of league play on Saturday and, going to East Syracuse-Minoa, rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Spartans.
This time around, the Hornets grabbed a 3-0 halftime edge, and never let up from there, as Snow and Connor Treglia both put in a pair of goals. Amato helped out with one goal and one assist as Christian Bagabo notched two assists and Adrian Temnycky also had an assist.
As for the F-M soccer girls, it returned to action last Tuesday, at Central Square, and proceeded to have its best first half of the season, a six-goal onslaught that led to an 8-1 romp over the Red Hawks.
Having struggled for long stretches of the season to even put one shot in the net, the Hornets found this first-half outburst quite welcome, as three players – Alexa Restante, Alexis Muraco and Ambjurg Solheim – would gain two goals apiece.
Frankie Bowyer, with a goal and two assists, also made a big contribution as Sarah Olick-Sutphen picked up the other goal. Restante and Muraco added assists.
It was much the same for the Hornets in Friday night’s 6-0 shutout of Oswego, as F-M steadily worked its way to a 3-0 halftime lead and then managed that exact same total after the break.
Continuing her hot play, Bowyer produced her first three-goal hat trick of the season. Olick-Sutphen had one goal and one assist, while Sarah Tedeschi had the other goal. Jamison Seabury added two assists as single assists also went to Ani Villalba and Rachel Dise.
F-M’s girls close out the regular season at home Thursday night against Auburn, a night after the boys Hornets go on the road to play the Maroons before awaiting its Section III Class AA playoff assignment.
