No, it didn’t count as much as it did last November, but at least this time the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team got the best of Baldwinsville.
The Hornets and Bees met once more in Saturday’s final of the Chitteanngo Fall Classic – and F-M won, 1-0, reversing the result of the 2009 Section III Class AA final.
Back then, B’ville prevailed, its third consecutive sectional title as it tries to build a dynasty similar to what F-M (holder of more sectional championships than any program) has enjoyed for decades.
That they met again so soon was the result of Friday’s opening-round contests at Chittenango. F-M beat the host Bears 4-1 after B’ville topped Marcellus 4-0.
In a rousing first act, F-M battled its way to a 1-0 halftime lead on Chittenango, then got away from the Bears after the break as its attack got accustomed to playing on the artificial surface.
Kris Alestalo, with one goal and one assist, led a well-balanced attack where Joe Mahr, Matt Hartzheim and Alex Baynes each scored, too. Anthony Restante added an assist as Mike Koegel produced the Bears’ lone goal.
This came after B’ville beat Marcellus 1-0 in the other half of the opening round, dominating the flow of play despite only getting Frank Vecchio’s first-half goal.
The F-M-B’ville confrontation in the final featured high winds, much cooler temperatures and, again, an early goal that held up.
Mahr got that conversion, pushing a shot past Bees goalie Andrew Coughlin as Tyler Forbes got credit for the assist. For the rest of the game, F-M’s defense shut down any attempt to answer, holding the Bees to five shots, all scooped up by goalie Ryan Carter.
A day earlier, Manlius-Pebble Hill provided an impressive 2010 debut, going to Solvay and bashing the Bearcats 7-2. The Trojans bolted out to a 5-1 halftime lead, then kept going as Tim Goldman earned a three-goal hat trick.
Mike Kardjian, Gerrit Church, Baird Hansen and Alex Urist also scored, with Jordan Gentile joining Kardjian and Hansen in the assist column. MPH gets high-profile games this week at Bishop Ludden and Faith Heritage.
