An eventful week for the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team that included a milestone for head coach Jeff Hammond concluded with an emphatic statement over its main rival for CNY Counties League and Section III Class AA supremacy.
The state Class A no. 13-ranked Hornets blanked state no. 15-ranked Baldwinsville 5-0 on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, a game far removed from the 3-2 overtime thriller F-M claimed over the Bees three weeks earlier at Swan Pond.
Since then, these two sides had separated themselves from the rest of the CNYCL, meaning that whoever won this rematch not only had the inside track for league honors, but also the top seed for the upcoming sectional tournament.
With so much at stake, getting an early goal can help calm the nerves, and 8:17 into the game F-M got it through a series of half-dozen passes that set up Hunter Knutsen alone in the left corner. With time to cross, Knutsen did so, and Riley Burke poked it past D.J. Moore to put the Hornets up 1-0.
What made that goal even more valuable was the fact that B’ville had only surrendered five goals all season, three of them to the Hornets, who were far from done in aggressively going after B’ville’s back line.
Even though it committed a series of fouls, F-M kept attacking, and drew a free kick 25 yards from the net in the 32nd minute. Josh Mahr took it, and as he’s done before, Mahr fitted it perfectly inside the left post.
F-M’s 2-0 halftime lead only lasted 23 seconds into the second half, thanks to Mahr, who attacked up the middle, drew the defenders and took a shot that Moore stopped – but the rebound was easily converted by Cole Teelin.
Only now did B’ville start to wage its own series of attacks. Seth Epling, Alex Bychkov, Nolan Chiles, Grant Olick-Sutphen and the rest of the Hornets’ defenders had to work hard to turn those chances away.
It culminated with 10:39 left when F-M goalie Mike Baril stopped Ben Kinslow’s penalty kick. Six minutes later, Mahr was fouled inside the 18-yard box and didn’t miss on his penatly kick, with Max Staniec adding a final goal, assisted by Teelin.
