The start of October meant that field hockey teams from Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse Minoa did not have much more time to straighten things out before the Section III playoffs arrived.
F-M, who had twice beaten ESM by narrow margins this season, would take on Liverpool last Wednesday and, controlling matters from the outset, defeat the Warriors 3-0.
One week earlier, the Hornets had blanked Liverpool 2-0. The rematch produced another shutout, F-M taking 13 shots and only surrendering one.Goals came from Libbie Kilpatrick, Susan Bansbach and Sarah Beeler, with Kipatrick and Lucy Fowler earning assists.
In its last regular-season home appearance on Saturday, the Hornets took on Cazenovia, and the attack was sharp again, constantly bombarding the Lakers and converting enough for a 4-0 victory.
As for ESM, it had won seven in a row following a season-opening defeat to F-M, only to hit the heart of its schedule and drop four straight, including the rematch with the Hornets.
Only in last Monday’s game at Whitesboro did the skid end thanks to a 1-0 victory where Holly Carr netted the game’s lone goal in the first half, assisted by Gillianne McCarthy.
Once with that lead, the Spartans protected it with a defense toughened by all the high-quality opposition it had dealt with the previous two weeks. The Warriors took six shots, each of them stopped by Maura Leib.
Another road trip east followed on Wednesday afternoon,, ESM this time going to New Hartford, where in this Spartans clash ESM got the best of it, prevailing by a 2-1 margin. McCarthy had one of the goals, with Caroline Miller earning the other.
The problem was that ESM couldn’t rest because, on Thursday night, it hosted the same Cicero-North Syracuse side that beat them 5-0 the week before at Bragman Stadium.
This edition was closer, but the Northstars still beat the Spartans 2-0, breaking it open in the second half as Katie Thies and Allison Bartlett scored. Other than that, Leib kept everything out as she finished with 13 saves.
ESM’s regular season concludes with back-to-back games against Cortland, one on the Purple Tigers’ turf on Tuesday, the rematch at Spartan Stadium two days later.
F-M, meanwhile, could still deny Baldwinsville a piece of the regular-season Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division regular-season title if it beat the Bees Wednesday at home.
