As they have done in recent years, soccer teams from Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy gathered to raise funds for the American Heart Association.
This time, though, the “Red Out” games were separate, with the girls teams meeting last Wednesday night because the Hornets were part of a weekend tournament at the Wright National Soccer Complex in Oneonta.
Even though it was playing for the second time in 24 hours, F-M roared past CBA 4-0, with a three-pronged attack that converted twice in each half and forced Brothers goalie Abby Benware to make 14 saves.
Twice, Hannah Knych scored, her 13th and 14th goals of the season, and she added an assist. Anna Hartzheim had a goal and two assists (she leads the Hornets with eight), with Rachel Dobricki getting one goal and one assist.
Then, on Saturday at Swan Pond, the boys from F-M and CBA squared off, and it was quite entertaining, with a first-half surge making the difference for the Brothers as it defeated the Hornets 4-2.
In those first 40 minutes, CBA three times converted on scoring chances, the charge led by Ben Vlassis, who would finish the night with two goals and one assist.
Trailing 3-0, the Hornets nearly made it back in the second half as Ben Hammond and Jace DuPuy found the net, with Riley Ma getting credit for an assist as Chris Szidat and William Summers combined for 10 saves.
Still, CBA did enough to hang on, with Dean Vlassis and Ayo Oguntola joining Ben Vlassis in the goal-scoring column as Matt Potenza and Dan Melvin also earned assists.
F-M, coming off a Sept. 28 home defeat to West Genesee, went to Nottingham last Monday and found itself under stress again, but recovered enough to beat the Bulldogs 2-1.
They were 0-0 until the second half, when Noah Craig scored twice for the Hornets as Hammond and DePuy earned assists. Parbat Barakoti scored for Nottingham, but Chris Szidat turned everything else away, finishing with six saves.
By contrast, CBA had no trouble handling Jordan-Elbridge 7-0 last Tuesday night, with Ben Vlassis picking up a three-goal hat trick and Potenza earning three assists.
Single goals went to Jack Harrigan, Tristan Kucera, Zach Witz and Jaden Elemos, with Oguntola, Josh Hulslander, Jordan Knapp and Rocco DeLorenzo adding assists.
CBA also rolled past Mexico Thursday night, scoring four times in the first half and cruising past the Tigers 5-1. Melvin earned a pair of goals, with Kucera, Elemos and Vlassis also finding the net. Vlassis and Hulslander picked up assists.
Back on Wednesday, F-M had defeated Corcoran 2-0, both goals coming in the first half as Craig scored once and assisted on a tally by Riley Warren-Nichols. Hammond assisted on Craig’s goal.
When F-M’s girls soccer team visited Liverpool last Tuesday night, it waited out weather before getting underway and throttling the Warriors in a 3-0 shutout.
A well-balanced attack produced a 2-0 halftime edge and a bit more after that, with Knych scoring her 12th goal of the season. Hartzheim and Ashley Carter also found the net, with Dobricki and Chloe Hodge earning assists.
And after it beat CBA, the Hornets swept that tournament in Oneonta, defeating both Corning and host Oneonta by equal 4-0 margins.
In the Corning game, F-M got two goals and one assist from Dobricki as Knych had one goal and one assist, Hartzheim also finding the net. Against Oneonta, four different Hornets – Hartzheim, Dobricki, Hodge and Ashley Carter – put in goals.
CBA, who had gone up and down throughout September against a brutal schedule, won big last Tuesday night at Alibrandi Stadium, shutting out Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 4-0.
Katy Stanard led the way, producing a three-goal hat trick as the other goal went to Kennedy Paciga. Emma Infanti earned her first assist of the season.
The loss to F-M slowed things up, and then on Thursday CBA, playing for the third time in as many days, tripped up again in a 2-1 defeat to the Lakers. Paciaga’s goal was negated as Cazenovia star Maddy Gavitt scored twice.
