Autumn chill had arrived in Central New York, just as the Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse-Minoa field hockey teams dealt with important contests in their respective leagues.
For the Hornets, it meant a first-place CNY Counties League showdown last Saturday afternoon with Baldwinsville, who was off to a surprising 3-0 start after early-season wins over Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool.
And for quite a while, it looked like the Bees would stretch that win streak to four – but constant pressure, and clutch play from Nancy Bansbach, pushed the Hornets to a 2-1 overtime victory.
Winds affected the game from start to finish, and there were few early scoring chances. B’ville took advantage of one of them, though, as Alyssa Bell flung a shot past F-M goalie Caroline Baril midway through the first half.
And it looked, for a long while, as if that 1-0 lead would stand. During the second half, the Hornets’ attack picked up, but a stingy Bees defense turned back everything.
Then, late in regulation, things got weird. Twice, the winds blew so hard that B’ville’s goal box tipped over, stopping play just as F-M was attacking.
Eventually, they got the box upright, but B’ville continued to defend, and the Hornets’ pressure paid off with 1:55 to play when Bansbach slapped a shot past Kaitlyn Gee.
During the seven-on-seven overtime period that followed, each side had chances to win it. But with just 16.6 seconds left, Bansbach, flashing open near the box, hit a shot that eluded Gee and gave F-M the victory.
F-M warmed up for Baldwinsville with back-to-back non-league games, both wins. In last Tuesday night’s game against Moravia, putting together a 5-1 victory where it saw four different players put in goals by the time it was done.
Bansbach was the only Hornet to score twice, adding an assist. Kate Josephson, Reilly Baker and Kate Swift managed the other goals, while Sophie Craig and Elizabeth Truman picked up one assist apiece.
Just 24 hours later, playing at Oneida, F-M continued to roll, blanking the Indians 5-0. Even on a grass field, the Hornets’ attack proved potent, as again Bansbach produced two goals and one assist, with Campbell Kennedy stepping up to earn a goal and two assists. Craig had one goal and one assist, while Truman scored the other goal. Kate Swift and Christine Carter-Huffman also had assists.
ESM, meanwhile, had to deal with a struggling Liverpool side on Wednesday night at LHS Stadium, and caught them just as the Warriors roared to life, beating the Spartans 3-0.
All game long, ESM found itself in a defensive mode, and though Nina Zesky had a sensational effort, earning 13 saves, she couldn’t keep Liverpool’s Brianna Socker from assisting on all three of her team’s goals, one each from Meghan Bailey, Kelly Bergamo and Gabriella Pascarella.
And that led to Friday’s trip to Cazenovia, the reigning powerhouse in both the OHSL and Class C, and the Lakers, who had scored 10 goals in each of its previous two games, ruled here, too, beating the Spartans 7-0.
Barely 10 minutes into the first half, the Lakers’ relentless attack started to pay off as Sarah Willard beat Zesky to give her side a 1-0 lead. Seven minutes later, Rachel McLaughlin doubled the margin, scoring off a feed from Sarah Liddell, and within seconds it was 3-0 thanks to Liddell’s goal, assisted by Willard.
When McLaughlin notched her second goal, with an assist to Meredith Shephard, just 1:28 before halftime, Cazenovia had a 4-0 edge on ESM, and was far from finished.
Less than 12 minutes into the second half, it was Ashley Kent’s turn to put in a goal, McLaughlin gaining her first assist of the afternoon. A penalty corner led to Liddell’s second goal with 8:52 left, and Kent returned to strike again with 3:40 to play.
