These are exciting times for each of the Fayetteville-Manlius soccer teams, even if they don’t always result in victories.
For example, last Monday night saw the girls Hornets ride a hat trick from Cassie Hemmer to a 3-0 shutout over visiting Cicero-North Syracuse, while the F-M boys saw its four-game win streak end at Nottingham in a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Bulldogs.
It looked like the boys Hornets caught a break going to unbeaten Nottingham when the Bulldogs’ top goalkeeper, Bhuwan Basnet, was unable to play, forcing Megeno Abdi to make his first start of the season.
Midway through the first half, Abdi charged out of the net, but was caught out of position, allowing F-M’s Dean Kousmanidis to slip past Abdi and put the ball into the unoccupied goal.
All looked fine for the Hornets until Juma Hussein’s point-blank shot went inches wide of the net right before the halftime horn. Fired up by that, Nottingham picked up its attack, and it paid off when Hassan Aden flung a hard shot from the right side past Mike Baril in the 50th minute to tie it.
Though F-M controlled the ball late in regulation and had multiple free and corner kicks, the Bulldogs turned all of them away. Then, in overtime, just after Baril made the best of his eight saves, Nottingham won it when Claude Tuyishimere got open at the point and sent a curving shot inside the top left corner of the net.
Back at Swan Pond Thursday night, F-M faced Corcoran and ripped the Cougars 6-0, getting away with four second-half goals as Dan Murray, who scored twice and added an assist, led the charge.
Connor Snow had a goal and assist, with Joe Falcone, Shane Humphrey and Jacob Sidd also finding the net. Seth Epling and Julian Razmjou had one assist apiece.
A Saturday trip to Utica Proctor followed, and like the game at Nottingham, it proved tight and went to overtime – but this time the Hornets prevailed, 3-2, over the Raiders, rallying from a 2-1 halftime deficit as Murray scored twice and Snow got the other goal. Razmjou and Mike Myagkota got one assist apiece.
F-M’s girls caught C-NS at a perfect time, mired in a three-game skid where it had not picked up a goal against Auburn, Baldwinsville or West Genesee.
Hemmer made sure that misery continued, twice scoring in the middle stages of the first half during a four-minute span, and then tacking on a third goal in the second half. Sally Trop and Alexa LaRocca each got credit for assists.
As that went on, F-M’s defense continued to stand out, constantly breaking up C-NS’s attempts to get on the board, and having goalkeeper Sabrina Suriani stop all seven shots she faced.
On Thursday afternoon, F-M, carrying a 6-2 record, visited West Genesee, looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat to the Wildcats at home in the Sept. 1 season opener.
But the Hornets lost to WG by that same 1-0 margin again, the game a scoreless deadlock until Olivia Price, off a feed from Emma Parry, slipped a second-half shot past Suriani. Emma Madonna, WG’s keeper, recorded seven saves to shut out F-M again.
Then the Hornets went to Auburn Saturday and survived an overtime battle with the Maroons in yet another 1-0 decision.
For 80 minutes of regulation and the first OT period, neither side scored, Sarini making nine saves, but the Hornets constantly frustrated as Ally Nicolisi was amassing 19 saves. Finally, in the second OT, F-M won it as Ashley Carter, taking a pass from Jane Cote, slipped a shot past Nicolisi.
Each of the F-M sides will play Christian Brothers Academy this Saturday at Alibrandi Stadium, though the boys Hornets first visit West Genesee and Henninger for games early this week.
F-M’s girls get back-to-back challenges, welcoming Baldwinsville Tuesday in a rematch of the Hornets’ 1-0 win on Sept. 9, still the only blemish on the Bees’ card this fall, and then hosting Liverpool on Thursday after the Warriors to pped them 3-0 just two weeks earlier.
