CENTRAL NEW YORK – No doubt, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls soccer team has paid attention to what East Syracuse Minoa is doing, given that the two sides were now both in the Class AA ranks and will meet this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Spartan Stadium.
Already, ESM has the upper edge on one local rival, proving so again last Tuesday night when it hosted Jamesville-DeWitt and earned a 2-0 shutout of the Red Rams.
To its credit, J-D’s defense was sound most of the night, closing off the many attacking lanes the Spartans tried to establish.
But the Rams had just two direct shots, and Khloe Welch would lead ESM, putting in one goal and assisting on the other, by Leah Rehm. Sophia Brooks assisted on Welch’s tally.
After this, J-D was able to rebound Thursday night and earn a key 3-2 win over Central Square, a first-half goal making the difference as both teams produced in the late going.
Ultimately, the Rams won with single goals from Hannah Anderson, Emily Wilcox and Paige Kinahan, with assists going to Juliana Walker and Amber Bates. Combined, goalies Emily Bulone and Lindsay Parker made seven saves.
Meanwhile, ESM slowed up a bit, battling its way past Whitesboro 1-0 Friday on Rehm’s second-half goal, assisted by Ashley Praxl, before battling Westhill to a 2-2 draw on Saturday.
Somehow, the Warriors kept Rehm off the board, but Praxl assisted on goals by Ayzlei Winas and Michaela Hurlbut to offset tallies by the Westhill duo of Hannah Goodness and Bella Gallardo, while goalie Juliana Orcutt made seven saves.
F-M made its own statement last Monday in a 6-2 victory over Central Square, bolting out to a 4-0 advantage by halftime with a more diverse attack than it had shown in previous games.
In particular, Ashley Seidberg emerged as a force, the F-M junior not only scoring twice, but piling up three assists as Morgan Goodman and Mary Coughlin also had two-goal outings. Elyssa Barnhart also had an assist.
Back home for the rest of the week, the Hornets handled Fulton 5-0 on Wednesday night with two more goals from Goodman, aided by single tallies from Seidberg, Barnhart and Coughlin. Jana Hodge and Madison Romocki joined Seidberg in the assist column.
Then, against Section V’s Victor on Saturday, F-M emerged with a wild 5-3 victory and moved its overall record to 7-1. Again, it was a showcase for Goodman, who netted three goals and assisted on the other two by Seidberg, with Coughlin and Elyssa Barnhart earning assists.
Christian Brothers Academy went on the road last Monday night to face Cazenovia and had to battle all the way to the end to claim a 1-0 decision over the Lakers.
Cazenovia goalie Skye Stanford had 12 saves, one less than Cara Macaluso, who turned back all 11 shots Cazenovia sent at her and was supported by Neveah Bacheyie getting the only goal off a feed from Katherine Williamson.
Back home Thursday to face Skaneateles, the Brothers lost a 1-0 decision to the Lakers. A first-half goal by Reese Gaidis held up, CBA only managing four shots, all stopped by Mara Stanton.
Turning it around again, CBA rolled past Cortland 5-1 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 6-2 overall, led by Williamson and Francesca Canzano getting two goals apiece. Lauren Zollo also found the net, with Bacheyle, Allison Boule, Margaret Melvin and Ciara Duggan earning assists.
Bishop Grimes ran into unbeaten Bishop Ludden last Monday and lost, 3-0, to the Gaelic Knights, who were led by Ashley Pawelczyk’s pair of goals as Sophia Chemotti also converted.
A 2-0 defeat to Faith Heritage followed on Wednsday despite 11 saves by Bailee Halsey, but Grimes did win 3-0 over Jordan-Elbridge/Cato-Meridian on Friday thanks to goals by Siciliy Shaffer, Olivia Garland and Adrianna Scollo.
Back on Wednesday, Manlius Pebble Hill was shut out, too, falling 2-0 to Jordan-Elbridge/Cato-Meridian as Briella Gilfus and Kailey Kauffman put in the decisive goals for the Eagles. The Trojans followed by falling to Fabius-Pompey 4-0 on Wednesday and 6-1 to Pulaski on Friday.
