All sorts of struggles have plagued the Fayetteville-Manlius girls soccer team in the 2016 season, but some light was found as it hit the midway point of its fall schedule.
The Hornets took a 1-6 record into last Thursday night’s game at Cicero-North Syracuse, but with steady all-around play, it doubled that modest win total and pulled off a 2-1 victory over the Northstars. It took goals from Mirren Galway and Anna Hartzheim to move out in front, with Alex Vinci adding an assist.
Hosting state-ranked Liverpool two days earlier at Swan Pond, the Hornets played on even terms in the second half – but only after a rough first half that made the difference in a 4-1 defeat to the Hornets.
Liverpool had all kinds of chances throughout the game, but converted more in the early going and led, 3-0, by halftime. F-M did better once was the pressure was off, and Cady Barns did notch a second-half goal, assisted by Hannah Knych, but it proved too late.
Combined, Hornets goalie Sabrina Suriani and Elana Paolini made 10 saves, but Liverpool got two goals from Bri Kovarik, plus tallies from Carli K ovarik and Lynsey Roth, with Abeba Haley, Megan Merrifield and Leigha Johnson getting one assist apiece.
With that win over C-NS in the books, the Hornets sought two in a row against Victor (Section V) on Saturday afternoon, but could not quite get it as it tied the Blue Devils 3-3.
It was 0-0 going into the second half before Rachel Dobricki scored twice, only to have Victor match those goals. Then Dobricki completed her hat trick in the first OT to give F-M a 3-2 edge, but the Blue Devils tied it up in the second OT. Hartzheim and Brittney Cross earned assists as Siriani and Paolini combined for nine saves.
Manlius-Pebble Hill broke out in a big way during last Tuesday’s game against Tyburn Academy, blanking the Crusaders 8-0 as it scored four times in each half and took 35 shots overall.
Rachel Comfort led the way for the Trojans, notching a three-goal hat trick and adding an assist. Maddie Mafici scored twice, while Maggie Sexton-Dwyer had one goal and one assist. Lisa Morocco and Julia Walsh also found the net.
Looking for back-to-back wins, MPH visited Cato-Meridian 24 hours later and pulled out a 2-1 decision over the Blue Devils, with all of the goals coming in the second half.
Morocco and Maja Cannavo found the net for the Trojans following a 0-0 first half, enough to cancel out a goal by Cato’s Payton Noeller. It stayed close thanks to 10 saves from Blue Devils goalie Meghan McCarthy, twice the total of MPH’s Sarah Smith.
So the Trojans carried a 5-2 record into Monday’s game at LaFayette, on the same field, and against the same Lancers team, that last Wednesday defeated Bishop Grimes 3-1.
Caroline Wilkinson gave the Cobras its lone goal, the team getting nothing else against LaFayette goalie Taylor Cook, who had 14 saves. And though Marissa Curtis made 14 saves, she couldn’t keep Carha Williams from scoring twice for the Lancers as Charlotte Ryan assisted on one of those scoring plays and nabbed a goal herself.
Grimes did bounce back on Friday, shutting out Fabius-Pompey 2-0, most of it due to Julia Gnade, who notched a goal in each half and then saw Curtis protect that lead by stopping each of the 14 Falcons shots she faced. Rhonee Shea Pal added an assist as the Cobras improved to 3-6 on the season.
