Though it ended up second at last weekend’s Holland Patent Fall Classic, the Fayetteville-Manlius field hockey team left with more confidence than at any point this season.
That was mostly due to what took place in Saturday’s final against Liverpool, where the Hornets jumped all over the undefeated Warriors before stumbling late in a 4-3 defeat.
The two sides had already met Sept. 9, in CNY Counties League play, when Liverpool won 2-0. Barely two weeks later, F-M unleashed a surprise attack on the Warriors in the first half of the rematch.
Katelyn Gualtieri, Emma Hebert and Kerry O’Connor each scored goals, with Kayla O’Connor and Lindsey Trachtenberg joining Gualtieri in the assist column. With that, the Hornets took a 3-1 lead to the break.
Liverpool kept calm, though, and took over in the second half, catching up on goals by Danielle Abold and Holly Clark, and winning it when Emma Lamison struck a penalty corner past F-M goalie Abby Cunningham with 56 seconds left.
A day earlier, F-M had edged host Holland Patent 2-1 in the opening round, getting both of its goals from Gualtieri to negate Michelle Smith’s tally for the Golden Knights. Kayla O’Connor added an assist.
Before all this, F-M went to Baldwinsville last Tuesday and showed a bit of nostalgia during a 2-0 victory over the Bees.
The Hornets’ new turf field meant no more practices or home games on an uneven grass surface. But the Bees still play on grass, so F-M had to remember what it used to deal with.
A goal in each half, plus a sound defense, was enough for victory here. Gualteri had a hand in both goals, scoring one and assisting on Kayla O’Connor’s tally. Mary Bucklin earned the assist on Gualteri’s goal. F-M dominated the flow of play, only allowing one shot and forcing Bees goalie Lindsay Farrell to make 13 saves.
Just when it looked as if it would mount a major challenge to Cazenovia in the Onondaga High School League, East Syracuse-Minoa lowed up.
Four days before the Spartans would host the Lakers, it welcomed Cortland, only to see the Purple Tigers put a halt to ESM’s hot streak with a 2-1 defeat.
Down 1-0 at the break due to Sarah Hartnett’s goals, the Spartans got on the board with Jill Alaimo’s goal, and Danielle Hobb made five saves. Still, Cortland, 1-2 entering the game, prevailed when Hartnett scored again in the late going. Maggie Brown turned away 10 of ESM’s 11 shots.
That only began a long, tough week for the Spartans, who 24 hours later had to face Class A power Liverpool and took a 3-0 loss to the Warriors.
Under constant pressure, Hobb somehow stopped 16 of the 19 shots she faced. Liverpool still scored twice in the first half and once in the second half, as Holly Clark led the Warriors with two goals. ESM managed just two shots all afternoon.
This led to the Cazenovia contest on Friday afternoon – and to a 6-0 defeat. In a defensive mode throughout the contest, the Spartans saw Hobb make 15 saves, but the Lakers got away behind Jessy Silfer’s two goals and one assists and Emily Willard, who also found the net twice.