Twice in a span of less than 48 hours, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team would find itself confronted with its most important games of the season against the two main challengers to its Section III Class AA throne.
Liverpool, and then Baldwinsville, would both make their way to Swan Pond, with the Warriors holding the no. 8 state rankings and the Bees the no. 12 ranking.
It was Liverpool’s turn on Thursday night, and it proceeded to stifle most of what the Hornets wanted to do, ultimately taking advantage of a late foul to edge F-M 1-0.
Right from the outset, the Warriors had the better opportunities, but after a series of runs the Hornets’ defense settled down, with back-line players Ethan Pinsky, Ian Donella, Jason Cavanagh and Michael Palmer effectively turning away Liverpool’s forwards.
Ultimately, though, F-M would have to lean on goalkeeper Chris Szidat, especially in the second half. Szidat dove to stop Ian Zingaro’s hard drive early in the half to keep the game 0-0.
With 9:54 left, the Hornets got whistled for a handball inside the 18-yard box, a penalty kick. Zingaro took it, shooting left – but Szidat again made the stop.
F-M wasn’t as lucky three minutes later, with another foul that led to another Warriors chance from the penalty spot. This time, Justin Lombard took it and he didn’t miss.
Having lost that game, F-M now turned around and faced Baldwinsville Saturday, the first time these two had met since last fall’s sectional final that the Hornets won in overtime.
This one would also end in a 1-0 defeat for F-M, only here the goal came in the first half, and not from a penalty kick. Instead, it was the Bees’ Jason Hahn finding the net off a feed from Drew Johnson.
For the rest of the afternoon, the Hornets attempted to pull even, but were held to four shots by a B’ville defense earning its seventh shutout of the season. Szidat finished with eight saves.
In the last tune-up before Liverpool and B’ville arrived, F-M won 4-1 over Henninger last Monday night at Sunnycrest Field, with Riley Burke taking charge during the second half.
Only up 1-0 at halftime, the Hornets turned to Burke, who would score twice and gain an assist as Noah Craig added one goal and one assist. Ben Hammond also converted, with Riley Warren-Nichols adding an assist. Tite Botame had the Black Knights’ lone goal.
While all this was going on, the F-M girls soccer team continued to build momentum toward Tuesday’s visit to Baldwinsville, the reigning state Class AA champions.
In last Thursday’s game at West Genesee, the Hornets put away the Wildcats 2-0 as, once in each half, Anna Hartzheim and Hannah Knych teamed up for goals, one finding the net, the other assisting.
At the same time, F-M’s defense was superb, limiting WG to six shots, all stopped by Sabrina Suriani. Wildcats counterpart Caitlin Mills would earn 11 saves.
In Saturday night’s game against Rochester Aquinas, the state Class B co-champions of 2017, F-M was, again, in great form, defeating the Irish 4-1 in large part due to a three-goal first-half blitz.
Leading the way, Hartzheim and Rachel Dobricki each gained one goal and one assist. Knych and Ashley Carter converted, too, with Abigail Obrist also earning an assist. Suriani stopped nine of the 10 Aquinas shots she faced.
