Aaron Epling had given himself another chance, just in front of the net, as the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team tried to catch up to Cicero-North Syracuse in Thursday night’s Section III Class AA semifinal.
Barely two minutes remained in regulation, and the no. 6 seed Hornets, down two goals early, had stormed back into contention, and if all went right here, F-M could push the game into overtime, where it had prevailed on this same Nottingham High School turf a week earlier.
Epling hit just the right shot to find the top of the net – but Northstars goalie Jon Runge, who had rarely started this season, leaped and deflected the ball over the net.
The ensuing corner kick was stopped, too, and C-NS, the no. 2 seed, held on for a 2-1 victory, advancing to Monday night’s championship game against Utica Proctor, who had stunned top seed Liverpool by that same score in overtime earlier in the night.
F-M had beaten C-NS in their lone regular-season meeting on Sept. 25, and the Northstars, remembering that outcome, wasted little time in its quest for payback.
Just 1:16 had passed when, off a corner kick, Bryan Sibble passed it to the middle and T.J. Sprague connected with a header to the top of the net.
C-NS continued to apply early pressure, and in the 12th minute exploited a Hornet turnover in the middle as Sibble grabbed possession and, when F-M goalie Jim Brady charged, Sibble flicked it over him into the unoccupied net.
Having gained a 2-0 lead so quickly, C-NS could not follow it up, and gradually F-M settled into its own attack as the first half wore on. That paid off in the 34th minute when the Hornets’ Lucas Averell was fouled inside the 18-yard box, leading to a penalty kick that Epling converted.
That momentum carried over into the second half, as F-M continued to make runs at the Northstars. But C-NS did a strong job of protection in front of Runge, constantly flicking away the ball whenever the Hornets got close to the net.
Despite this, F-M had plenty of chances to pull even. With 13:30 left, a strong corner kick from Epling bounced around the box, but no F-M player could manage a solid shot on the net.
A C-NS foul with less than three minutes left gave the Hornets a free kick from 20 yards out. Epling, with his left foot, drove a hard shot – and Runge, perfectly timing his leap, deflected it over the net. The ensuing corner kick went nowhere, and Paul Kwoyelo’s last-minute shot just sailed over the cage.
Overall, F-M went 12-5-1 this fall, and will see 11 seniors depart, including Epling, Kwoyelo, Averell, Sam Donato and Brendan Murray.
