Now the big question for the Fayetteville-Manlius girls soccer team was whether the momentum it gained through strong home wins over West Genesee and CBA would translate into better efforts against the CNY Counties League powerhouses.
The Hornets went to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium last Tuesday to face unbeaten, state Class AA no. 9-ranked Baldwinsville last Tuesday night, and despite effective defense, F-M still fell to the Bees 2-0, though that was half the margin of the 4-0 B’ville victory back on Sept. 15.
Remembering what it saw from that first meeting, F-M attempted to lay back and cover all angles, perhaps hoping for a counterattack. It mostly worked for a half, the Bees only claiming a 1-0 lead, but had to change after a second-half tally gave B’ville more of a cushion.
Sabrina Suriani had a superb game in the net, managing 13 saves. The Bees’ goals came from Mackenzie Schaffner and Katie Pascale, with Simone Neivel gaining an assist and its defense holding the Hornets to just two shots all night.
Then, on Friday night, F-M visited state no. 19-ranked Liverpool, looking to avenge a 4-1 defeat Sept. 20 at Swan Pond. Now on the turf at LHS Stadium, the Hornets got a bit closer, but still lost, 3-1, to the Warriors.
Cody Barns got F-M on the board in the first half with Anna Hartzheim earning an assist. Despite that, Liverpool still led, 2-1, at halftime, and doubled that margin in the late going to negate Suriani’s 10 saves. Bri Kovarik had two of the Warriors’ three goals, with Emily Wu earning the other. With the loss, F-M dropped to 4-8-1.
Bishop Grimes stepped out of league play last Monday and lost, 3-0, to Class B contender South Jefferson, unable to generate much of an attack and, instead, seeing the Spartans take most of the shots.
Marissa Curtis did make 17 saves for the Cobras, but she could not keep everything out. Up 1-0 at halftime, South Jefferson pulled clear behind Brooke Clement’s pair of tallies as Mara Hathaway earned the other goal.
And that was right before Grimes had to face 11-1-1 Bishop Ludden a night later. Having taken its first defeat of the season to Cicero-North Syracuse on Oct. 1, the Gaelic Knights were bent on showing it could bounce back from disappointment.
Despite the Cobras’ finest effort, it could not keep Ludden from a 1-0 victory. The Gaelic Knights, who blanked the Cobras 2-0 a month earlier, could not get on the board in a scoreless first half.
Not until Emma Driscoll, unassisted, put one past Grimes goalie Marissa Curtis in the second half did Ludden get in front. Curtis had otherwise earned 10 saves, while Grimes couldn’t establish against a stubborn Gaelic Knights defense that protected Kara Beamish, who only had to make two saves.
Grimes would host Tully on Friday afternoon and not get on the board in a 2-0 defeat to the Black Knights, shut out like it was 1-0 back on Sept. 10, except here Tully notched goals in each half from Mackenzie Bolt and Katie McNerney, the only ones Curtis allowed on her way to 15 saves. The Cobras, with the loss, fell to 4-10.
Manlius-Pebble Hill had already faced Tully two nights earlier, and it didn’t go well, the Trojans falling to the Black Knights 4-1 and unable to recover from a first half where Katie McNerney, Emme Perkins and Lexi Hamilton all scored in the game’s first 25 minutes.
Alexi Hamilton assisted on two of those early scoring plays and added another goal in the second half, all of this far more than the Trojans could overcome as its goalie, Sarah Smith, made 14 saves. MPH was held to four shots all game.
But the Trojans roared back on Friday at Fabius-Pompey, shutting out the Falcons 2-0 thanks to a pair of second-half goals. Maddie Mafrici and Taylor Germaine converted to help MPH break the deadlock as Hannah Cousins earned an assist. Smith stopped all four shots she faced.
