Whether it was for a few weeks, or a few days, a pair of Fayetteville-Manlius teams – one in girls tennis, the other in boys golf – were both eager for another shot at West Genesee.
And when they got that chance on the same Monday afternoon within a few hundred yards of each other in Camillus, both sets of Hornets pulled it off, providing a satisfactory conclusion to their respective regular seasons.
The rivalry between F-M and West Genesee is not a geographic one, but rather forged through their constant battles in all sports, especially lacrosse. But all of that changed earlier this month, on Sept. 3.
That was when, in girls tennis, the visiting Wildcats beat the Hornets 4-3, which was merely the first time in 21 years and 329 consecutive matches (the longest team high school win streak in the nation) that anyone had beaten F-M.
Ever since, the Hornets had won all of its matches, but had Sept. 29 particularly circled, because it was the return engagement with those same Wildcats. Like the first meeting, the sequel would end 4-3, but in F-M’s favor.
F-M took a different tact for this match, sending its best players into doubles as WG did the opposite, and the result was that the Wildcats won all three of the singles matches. Olivia Wojnovich lost, 6-2, 6-1, to Samantha Heyn, with Shannon Fullam falling to Taylor Ginestro 6-4, 6-1 and Marissa Broddus running into Mikayla Mannara and taking a 6-4, 6-2 defeat.
Now the Hornets needed to sweep the doubles, and got the first of those points when Shirley Zhang and Maggie Bonomo, normally singles stars, got together to beat Kayla Llanos and Marisa Joyce 7-5, 6-1.
Every other match would go to three sets – and F-M would win them all, starting with second doubles, where Madison Jordan and Kristina Liu took over in the third set to beat Shannon Marlatt and Kelsey Shanahan 7-5, 3-6, 6-0.
It was similar in fourth doubles, where Abby Welker and Mary Trop won the opener, lost the second set, but still stopped Caroline McGuigan and Elena Kopp 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. But Katerina Atallah and Catarina Westergaard lost the first set before recovering just in time and getting the clinching point in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win over Mary Frontale and Abigail Thurston.
Not far away, at Westvale Golf Club, F-M’s boys golf team was facing the same West Genesee side it lost to, 193-196, just five days earlier at Woodcrest. Their second match would prove just as close – but this time, the Hornets finished in front, stopping the Wildcats 195-199.
Andrew Massa and Steve Cachio shot the best individual rounds of the match, each of them posting 37 for nine holes at Westvale to edge WG’s Dylan Plis by a single shot.
Then Nick Perry, with a 39, matched the Wildcats’ John Sullivan, both of them one better than Sean Stanistreet, normally WG’s top golfer, but only getting a 40 on this day despite warm, calm conditions.
To wrap up the victory, Hornets veterans Kyle Gilroy and Ryan Keller each would shoot 41, which matched the total of WG’s tandem of Alex Scicchitano and Patrick Ciarla, and was one better than Shamus Hickey.
The F-M golfers still had two more matches left in the regular season, and went to Liverpool 24 hours later to earn a 190-208 victory over the Warriors.
Cachio’s late-season streak continued as his 37 at Liverpool Country Club matched the Warriors’ Dan Mort for low individual round. Three other Hornets – Keller, Perry and Massa – had matching totals of 38, with Jason Coleman stepping up for a 39.
A 182-211 win over Central Square at Woodcrest followed on Thursday, featuring Gilroy shooting a 34, while Perry and Massa both posted 36. Keller, with a 37, and Coleman and Tim Zapisek, each shooting 38, were in good form, too.
As F-M’s golfers get ready for Thursday’s Section III Class AA championship at the Links at Sunset Ridge, the girls tennis Hornets hold the top seed for its sectional tournament, not having to worry about West Genesee since the Wildcats aren’t participating.
Instead, the Hornets, in a six-team bracket, had a bye straight into Wednesday’s semifinal against either no. 4 seed Cicero-North Syracuse or no. 5 seed Oswego, with no. 2 seed Baldwinsville awaiting Central Square or Auburn. The final is at Utica’s Mott Courts on Thursday afternoon.
