If ever there was a time where optimism and disappointment was drawn from a single result of a single game, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls soccer team experienced it.
The Hornets went to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium last Tuesday night and took defending state Class AA champion Baldwinsville beyond the wire and deep into overtime, showing that it could put up a championship-caliber performance.
Only a late goal denied F-M in a 3-2 defeat, but the mere fact that it was so tight showed that the Hornets may have closed a significant gap with B’ville, whom it lost to in last year’s Section III Class AA semifinals.
In fact, it was F-M getting the jump in this game, grabbing a 1-0 advantage on Katy Krueger’s goal before Hannah Mimas tied it late in the first half. A few minutes later, a Hornets foul inside the 18-yard box led to a Bees penalty kick that Kelsey Delola converted.
From there, though, F-M’s defense was superb for the rest of regulation, turning back most of B’ville’s runs and protecting goalie Sabrina Suriani, who only had to make six saves
Given ample time to pull back even, the Hornets did so with nine minutes left in regulation as Hannah Knych converted the free kick, ultimately putting the game into OT.
They remained 2-2 through most of the pair of extra periods, but just as it looked like a draw was going to happen, Mimas returned and, with 28 seconds left, flicked a shot past Suriani.
The fact that West Genesee would tie B’ville 2-2 later in the week may have frustrated F-M more, but on Saturday it made up for that disappointment with an impressive 2-0 shutout over Cicero-North Syracuse.
This was the same Northstars side that used a last-minute goal to top the Hornets on Sept. 11, but the rematch belonged to Knych, who landed one goal in each half and saw F-M’s defense limit C-NS to four shots, all stopped by Suriani.
Back on Tuesday night, the F-M boys soccer team found itself in a perilous position, having lost back-to-back home games to Liverpool and Baldwinsville by 1-0 margins and now trailing Cicero-North Syracuse by that same margin at halftime at the Gillette Road Complex.
But in what could prove a turning point to the season, the Hornets rallied to beat the Northstars 2-1, partly by having Chris Szidat stop every shot he faced on the way to 10 saves, but also with timely scoring plays.
Riley Burke and Ziad Abdul-Malak put in those goals, with assists going to Ben Hammond and Ty Teelin. That helped to negate Joe Barraco’s’s first-half goal for C-NS that Cameron Hauser assisted.
Back at Swan Pond Friday night, F-M looked to avenge its 3-2 overtime defeat to West Genesee earlier in the month, but a rough start proved costly as the Wildcats beat them again, this time 2-1.
WG’s Ryan Washo and Jackson Craig each scored in the first half, with assists going to Ricky Francisco and Carter Turton.
Down 2-0 at the break, the Hornets cut that deficit in half as Burke scored off a pass from Hammond in the late stages, but the Wildcats held on thanks to an improved defense and nine saves from Zach Bolton.
