Even with the elation of its Sept. 17 overtime victory over Baldwinsville still fresh in its brain, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team could not relax.
That was because another powerful CNY Counties League foe, Liverpool, would arrive at Swan Pond last Tuesday night, and it would turn into a tense, riveting battle with missed chances and close calls on both ends before the whole thing ended in a 0-0 draw.
Still carrying good feelings from its overtime win over Baldwinsville on Sept. 17, F-M would take the game to Liverpool throughout the first half, only to get thwarted, time and again, by terrific stops from Warriors goalie Ben Bowers, who made at least three diving saves and would finish the night with nine saves overall.
Meanwhile, Liverpool had its share of looks, too, especially at the end of each half, though Mike Baril had to leap to stop Ben Root’s shot from finding the net midway through the second half, the best of his six saves on the night.
With less than two minutes left, the Warriors put together a prolonged fast break, leaving Marquis Wright in the middle of the field. Wright took the shot and, with a hard drive, beat Baril – but hit it off the crossbar.
So it went to overtime where, again, F-M had most of the opportunities, but unlike with B’ville could not net the game winner, coming quite close with less than two minutes left in the second OT when a free kick dropped to Ryan Varley and he hit it past Bowers, but the ball glanced off the right post.
This draw didn’t bother F-M too much, for it started the second half of its CNY Counties League round-robin slate the way it did the first by slamming West Genesee 5-1 Friday night at Swan Pond.
Most of the damage was done in the second half, where the Hornets netted four goals to put the stubborn Wildcats away. Josh Mahr scored twice, with Hunter Knutsen and Joe Falcone each getting a goal and assist. Seth Epling also scored as Cole Teelin picked up a pair of assists and Varley got an assist, too.
Far from all this, Manlius-Pebble Hill put on a genuine upset bid against undefeated, state Class C no. 5-ranked Bishop Ludden last Monday night and nearly got it to OT before taking a 2-1 defeat to the Gaelic Knights.
During the first half, the Trojans got on the board with a goal from Ahmad El-Hindi, assisted by Sam Goldman but Ludden converted, too, thanks to Justin Eisenhauer’s goal. And it stayed 1-1 until halftime and deep into the second half, too, MPH doing a superb defensive job.
But with 1:55 left in regulation, Ludden’s accumulated pressure paid off when Eric Emmons slipped a shot past MPH goalie Stew Falso. Prior to that, Falso had made seven saves, matching the total of the Gaelic Knights’ pair of netminders, Peter Lockwood and Sean Merrill.
Then it was Bishop Grimes taking its turn against Ludden on Wednesday night, and that was also a close affair – but this one bled into overtime before the Cobras’ efforts were thwarted in a 1-0 defeat.
All through the 80 minutes of regulation, Grimes and Ludden would go back and forth, neither side dominating the flow of play. Defensively, the Cobras were sound and consistent, protecting goalie Ian Denton, who only had to make seven saves.
However, none of Grimes’ six shots got past Gaelic Knights goalie Peter Lockwood, so it remained 0-0 until the first OT, when Ludden attacked again and Eric Emmons, taking a pass from Kayleb Lopez, pushed one past Denton for the game-winner.
That same day, MPH was beating Tyburn Academy 4-0, not able to get away from the Crusaders until a big second half. Josh Hapko, with two goals and one assist, led that late charge as Grant Lewis and Naldo Chen also converted. Andrew Park and Liam Meisner had one assist apiece.
On Friday, those same Trojans faced Cato-Meridian and would prevail, 2-1, largely because of Goldman, who netted the only goal in the first half and converted again in the second half to counter the goal by the Blue Devils’ Chad Thompson. Only the 13 saves by Cato goalie Trent Lunkenheimer kept it close.
