This was something the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team had not experienced in a month – namely, seeing a goal scored on them.
It was midway through the second half of Monday night’s game at West Genesee, and the Hornets had seen The Wildcats’ Zach Perkins curve a shot into the top right corner of the net, erasing F-M’s early lead.
Barely two minutes later, though, Haile Marr had put the Hornets back in front, and by the time it was all finished F-M owned a 5-1 victory and an overall record of 8-0-1.
Ever since Sept. 6, when it allowed a goal late in 3-1 win over Watertown, F-M had reeled off eight consecutive shutouts. And a formidable defense received even more help on this night with Alex Baynes returning from injury.
Through the first half, that shutout streak remained intact. Twice in the early minutes, goalkeeper Kenny Chapman had to make diving stops, but otherwise F-M had most of the opportunities, probing and staying patient.
In the 32nd minute, Haile Marr, bursting up the middle, took a well-timed feed from Kyle Lunney and beat Wildcat goalie Dylan Condon with a low shot just inside the left post. It would stay 1-0 for a while, though as the second half progressed WG picked up pressure.
Then Perkins converted in the 60th minute, ending the long Hornets shutout streak that had covered more than 700 minutes of game time. But Marr immediately countered with his second goal in the 62nd minute, bursting right up the middle to beat Condon.
And it didn’t stay 2-1 for long, either. Lunney, from the deep corner, fitted a ball through a Wildcat defender that Brendan Murray converted in the 66th minute.
WG suffered through an own goal with 6:52 left off Tyler Forbes’ shots, and defender Antonio Cantarero assisted on another Forbes goal with less than two minutes left.
