Steadily, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team climbs in the state Class AA rankings, moving up to no. 14 last week, one spot behind Baldwinsville despite the Hornets’ 3-2 overtime win over the Bees at Swan Pond on Sept. 17.
But F-M still remembered how Cicero-North Syracuse, two players down, had stunned them 3-2 back on Sept. 3 at the Gillette Road Complex, so next encounter last Thursday night at Swan Pond was a chance for payback – which it attained, thanks to a hard-earned 2-1 victory.
At the outset, the Hornets may have felt some concern when, again, the Northstars went out in front thanks to Brady Engle’s goal, assisted by Zach Spenard, less than seven minutes into the game.
Quickly, though, Josh Mahr answered it for F-M, not only tying the game 1-1, but also netting the go-ahead goal as Hunter Knutsen assisted on one of those tallies. Then, for the rest of the night, the Hornets’ defense took over, limiting C-NS as Mike Baril only had to make five saves. Northstars goalie Kevin Szuba had eight saves.
Just before this, the Hornets went to Corcoran last Tuesday night and notched five goals in the first half on the way to a 7-0 shutout of the Cougars, Hunter Knutsen leading the charge as he scored twice and added a pair of assists.
Josh Mahr also netted two goals, with Cole Teelin and Max Staniec each getting one goal and one assist. Manuel Garcia contributed a goal, with assists also credited to Grant Olick-Sutphen, Riley Burke and Joe Falcone. Combined, Mike Baril and Tim Kaiser made nine saves to preserve the shutout.
And this led to Saturday’s game against Christian Brothers Academy, the annual “Red Out” game for the American Heart Association. An added twist this year was that F-M’s JV boys soccer. L.J. Papaleo, is the son of CBA varsity coach Joe Papaleo.
CBA entered the game in good form, having won back-to-back games. It returned to the win column at Central Square last Tuesday night, edging the Redhawks 2-1 in large part because it got the only goal of the first half and converted again to answer Max Yonkers’ second-half tally. Tobias Okongo and Tom Daviau had the goals, with Malachi Emmanuel earning an assist.
Two nights later, at Alibrandi Stadium, the Brothers toppled Fowler 4-2, finding the net twice in each half. Alex Calkins finished with two goals, while Daviau and Dean Vlassis got the others. Emmanuel, Ryan Caballero, Tristen Kucera and Jordan Knapp all got credited with assists as Matt Buck recorded eight saves.
When F-M and CBA finally got together, it again proved a great occasion to raise funds for a charity literally close to the heart of players and coaches – and the game wasn’t bad, either.
F-M would win it, 4-2, and Mahr led the way, scoring on a header off Dan Murray’s pass less than nine minutes into the game and then converting on a dazzling free kick in the 25th minute after CBA had tied it, 1-1.
With one more goal just before halftime, Mahr completed his hat trick, yet CBA closed the gap to 3-2 early in the second half, requiring Knutsen to put away the clinching goal with 2:20 left. Calkins and Ayo Oguntola scored for the Brothers, with Daviau and Emmanuel earning assists. Buck finished with 15 saves as Baril recorded nine saves.
