Having gone through a lot of up-and-down play early this season, the Fayetteville-Manlius field hockey team was longing to show a more consistent winning form.
The Hornets took a helpful step in last Monday night’s visit to Rome Free Academy, where it never trailed and used a late scoring surge to power past the Black Knights by a 3-1 margin.
F-M had the only goal of the first half, and even when RFA got on the board with Kaitlyn Mastracco’s goal, assisted by Nicolina Castronovo, it still couldn’t keep the Hornets from adding two more to its total.
Susan Bansbach netted two of F-M’s three goals. Campbell Kennedy had the other, with Liz Truman and Lindsey Kilpatrick each getting one assist. Catherine Barr only had to make two saves.
It expected to get tougher Thursday night, when Cicero-North Syracuse paid a visit. And though the Hornets tried to get on the board, it could not do so, paying the price for a slow start in a 2-0 defeat to the Northstars.
Though C-NS didn’t have many organized attacks, two of them turned into first-half goals by Allie Bartlett and Bailey Lazore, assisted by Jamie Wagner and Abbey Szumloz. As it tried to come back, F-M found itself stymied and held to a mere three shots by the Northstars’ defense.
F-M then took on New Hartford Friday night, and blanked the Spartans by that same 2-0 margin, with Truman notching one goal and assisting on the other, by Bansbach. The Hornets’ defense was so effective that it held New Hartford to just one shot all night.
East Syracuse Minoa, off to a 3-3 start, rose back above the .500 mark last Tuesday night with a 2-0 home victory over Auburn in a match that was part of a doubleheader with girls soccer, where the Spartans also prevailed over the Maroons.
The field hockey game was much closer, but Lindsey Russell put ESM in front in the first half, scoring off a pass from Gillianne McCarthy. Then it patiently waited to add to that margin, thwarted by Auburn goalie Lauren Durpree, who had 13 saves overall, until Emma Schafer’s second-half goal locked it up. Cory Palmer stopped all five shots she faced.
This led to Saturday’s non-league match with ESM visiting Liverpool, and it proved close, though the Spartans ultimately fell short in a 2-1 defeat to the Warriors.
Under fierce attack most of the way, ESM somehow stayed in it thanks to Palmer’s 16 saves. She couldn’t keep everything out, though, as Liverpool’s Claire Gaynor twice converted off feeds from Brittany Halpin, and the Spartans couldn’t overcome it despite Samantha Wysocki’s goal, assisted by Schafer.
