Over the course of the last two weeks, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls soccer team has absorbed some blemishes, a stark contrast to the way it blazed to a state championship game appearance in 2019.
First, it was a defeat to East Syracuse Minoa. Then, a week later, Liverpool, a team the Hornets beat 2-0 earlier in the month, pulled out a 1-1 draw in last Tuesday’s rematch.
Even with a constant attack in the first half, F-M was kept off the board by a stubborn Warriors defense and fell behind 1-0 thanks to Maggie Tifft’s goal, assisted by Alexa Marsh.
During the second half, the pressure continued, finally breaking through as Lauren Clark tied it, but over the rest of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, the Hornets could not forge ahead.
Liverpool’s defense had to work hard to keep the game even. Tifft spent half the game in the net, splitting duties with Mikayla Perry, and the pair combined for 18 saves.
At least through that game, F-M was still undefeated against Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division rivals – but that changed, too, when the Hornets lost 1-0 to Cicero-North Syracuse Thursday at Bragman Stadium.
C-NS struck in the first half, Juliana Marullo getting the goal as Victoria Iannotti earned the assist, but that still gave F-M ample time to answer.
All through the rest of the game, the Hornets had a fair share of opportunities, only to get stymied by an effective Northstars defense that kept the ball away from goalie Avery Byrnes, who only had to make five saves.
Elsewhere, Christian Brothers Academy got the best of its trip to Jones Road last Tuesday afternoon, earning a 4-1 victory over Faith Heritage.
Or, to put it more specifically, Bella Roberson got the best of it, converting three of the Brothers’ four goals as Katelyn Courcy got a pair of assists. Amelia Bonacci had the other goal.
By contrast, when CBA shut out LaFayette 5-0 on Friday, those five goals came from five different players – Roberson, Courcy, Kennedy Paciaga, Emma Infanti and McKenna Dalton.
Bishop Grimes won big on Tuesday, handling LaFayette 4-0 to break a four-game winless streak thanks to the work of Cobras teammates Abby Tweedale and Rosalie Vincent.
Tweedale and Vincent each burned the Lancers for a pair of goals, with Vincent joining Jenna Sloan, Loyi Mugushu and Kate Murphy in the assist column.
But the Cobras could not quite manage back-to-back wins on Friday, taking a 2-1 defeat to Bishop Ludden.
Jenna Sloan put Grimes on the board, her goal assisted by Rosalie Vincent. The Cobras had twice as many shots as the Gaelic Knights, yet Ludden goalie Sarah Boyea had 11 saves to support goals by Annie Gaughan and Alexia Chemotti.
Then Grimes had to face CBA on Saturday, a lopsided affair won 6-0 by the Brothers as Courcy had a career day, netting three goals and earning a pair of assists.
Paciaga benefited from Courcy’s passes and scored twice, with Mackenzie Witz earning the other goal. Infanti, Amelia Bonacci and Rachel Rowlee had one assist apiece.
As for Manlius-Pebble Hill, it was shut out 3-0 by Chittenango, all of the goals coming in the first half despite Mia Fadda-Corney earning 13 saves overall. Emily Moon scored twice for the Bears and assisted on Madison Wagner’s tally.
