In a 24-hour span, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls lacrosse team reintroduced itself to a pair of well-known Class A rivals as it attempted to get some mid-season momentum.
First, the Hornets faced Liverpool Tuesday at Solvay’s Earl Hadley Stadium (the Warriors’ temporary home field) and rallied to win by a score of 16-14 in overtime.
F-M had a difficult time adjusting to the cold, windy conditions, especially since its last game (a loss to Canandaigua on April 25) was played in temperatures up to 50 degrees warmer.
Going to halftime, the Hornets trailed, 9-6, but it roared into the lead in the second half behind Sarah Lux, who set a new season mark with five goals.
Liverpool didn’t go away, though, getting back even on Jennifer VanderMeulen’s goal with 25 seconds left in regulation. During the pair of three-minute overtime periods, F-M pulled back in front and, winning key draws, would stay there.
Five different Hornets — Mollie Caputo, Morgan Axenfeld, Jackie Keleher, Mary Hartzheim and Kelly Perry — would earn two goals apiece, with Caputo adding two assists. Taylor Robinson had a goal and two assists, while Perry, Keleher and Hartzheim earned single assists.
Only the fine work of Liverpool goalie Mikey Meagher (23 saves) kept F-M from even more production, as Jennifer VanderMeulen led the Warriors with five goals and three assists.
With no time to rest, F-M came home Wednesday to deal with Cicero-North Syracuse, off to a 7-1 start this spring. Yet the continued action seemed to suit the Hornets well as it pulled away in the late going to beat the Northstars 13-8, no OT required.
Through a low-scoring first half, F-M slowly worked its attack and rotated players in and out. And though it only led 5-3 at the break, the Hornets proved deeper and more durable as, in the second half, the Northstars’ defense began to tire.
Thus, F-M got away by a comfortable margin. Axenfeld, with four goals and one assist, led the way as Lux earned two goals and two assists. Perry and Robinson also had two-goal outings, with Caputo gaining a goal and three assists. Hartzheim had a goal and two assists. Keleher put up one goal.
F-M played again on Thursday, at Central Square, and rolled past the Red Hawks 21-7, maintaining a swift pace all game long while giving the starters as much rest as possible.
Jenn Williams set a new career mark with six goals, often fed by Marilyn Farrell, who established her own career high with seven assists.
Katie Sipple earned three goals. Jayne Conahan, Ali Peters and Meg Wilson earned two goals apiece, with Caputo, Alex Murphy, Chrissy Pirmo and Livy Joseph scoring, too.
From there, the Hornets went on to fight past Oswego 14-13 on Friday, nearly running out of steam in the second half after building an 8-5 halftime lead.
To hang on, Axenfeld (three goals) and Caputo (one goal, four assists) needed help — and got it, as Robinson got two goals and two assists and Lux also found the net twice. Hartzheim, Perry, Keleher and Same also scored. Trpcevski needed every one of her 12 saves as Amanda D’Amico (four goals) and Taylor Giglio (three goals) led Oswego’s effort.
