It was quite a way for West Genesee boys soccer head coach Chuck Fiello to get his first victory.
After three consecutive defeats to open the season, the Wildcats ended a long drought against Fayetteville-Manlius Tuesday night in Camillus, squandering two different leads against the Hornets, yet still prevailing 3-2 in double overtime.
F-M is, again, the defending Section III Class AA champions. But it has just six seniors on its roster and had played just once this season, a weather-shortened 0-0 draw with Cicero-North Syracuse on Aug. 29 at Swan Pond.
Despite this, the Hornets controlled most of the first half, only to have the Wildcats’ defense, led by Stefan Atanasov, Tom Cipro, Matt Shields and Mitchell King keep them out, with goalie Zach Bolton making some key stops.
Late in the half, WG counter-attacked and Ryan Washo’s goal put his team in front 1-0. Even when Ben Hammond converted in the first minute of the second half to tie it, 1-1, Washo countered less than three minutes later, his shot ramming off the post before Ricky Francisco put home the rebound.
For the most part, the Wildcats protected that 2-1 lead well, but with less than two minutes left in regulation F-M forced a free kick on the right side and Yousef Kamel lobbed it to the middle, where Noah Craig headed it past Bolton.
So it went to overtime 2-2. After the first OT did not yield a result, two minutes into the second OT the Wildcats initiated an attack on the left side. Francisco lobbed it to the middle, where Washo ripped a shot that F-M goalie Chris Szidat could not stop.
Before all this, WG met Christian Brothers Academy on Aug. 31 in the first of two games at Liverpool High School Stadium, the Wildcats taking a 4-2 defeat to the Brothers.
Down 2-0 at halftime, the Wildcats tried to recover as Washo got one goal and assisted on another, by Francisco, with Jackson Craig assisting on Washo’s tally. But CBA answered them to maintain its margin and had four different goal-scorers.
A day later, against Bethlehem (Section II), the Wildcats were blanked 2-0, again falling into a two-goal deficit in the first half but this time unable to break the shutout against the Eagles. Bolton finished with five saves.
In short, none of this offered an indication that WG would turn it around against F-M – but it did, and then to back up that momentum the Wildcats won again in overtime two nights later, this time 3-2 over Henninger at Sunnycrest Field.
Fiello had coached the Black Knights for more than a decade before coming to WG, adding to the storyline. With goals by See Mo Hai and MooGay Hai, the Black Knights kept up with the Wildcats, each side converting once in each half.
Francisco and Jacob Sachar had WG’s goals, and once it reached OT the Wildcats delivered again, this time with Matt Shields getting the decisive goal. Washo and Tom Shields added assists.
Each of Bolton’s eight saves would prove important, and completed a week where he stepped up in the absence of injured goalie Ryan Paige.
