A climactic moment for the area boys soccer season arrived Saturday when 10-0 Fayetteville-Manlius and 8-0 East Syracuse Minoa both put their perfect records on the line at Spartan Stadium.
And it was the Hornets getting the best of it, humbling the Spartans’ defense throughout the 80 minutes and not letting up until it had produced a 6-1 victory.
Ziad Abdul-Malak’s goal got F-M in front. Nino Pagano made it 2-0, but the real kick arrived after Eric Callahan netted ESM’s lone goal, assisted by Zach Shufelt.
The brother tandem of Nino and Cheech Pagano both found the net, making it 4-1. With Abdul-Malak accumulating three assists, Ty Teelin and Tyler Goodman both tacked on late goals.
F-M had seen its scheduled showdown with Baldwinsville last Tuesday postponed when one of the Bees’ players tested positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, ESM played last Monday and needed overtime to edge Cicero-North Syracuse 1-0.
The Northstars pulled off what no previous opponent had in regulation this fall – namely, keep the Spartans off the board, its defense frequently frustrating ESM’s plans.
Wyatt Dupell made 10 saves, yet could not keep the Spartans from winning it in overtime due to Zach Shufelt’s unassisted goal. For his part, ESM goalie Hamdija Causevic stopped all six C-NS shots he faced.
ESM had a match Thursday against Cortland, where it controlled matters most of the way but still had to grind out a 2-0 win over the Purple Tigers.
Overcoming 20 saves from Cortland goalie Scott Hourigan, the Spartans got goals from Todd Durantini and Armin Osanovic, with Matt Kenney and Zach Shufelt earning assists.
Jamesville-DeWitt, set to face ESM twice in as many weeks early in November, returned to action last Tuesday and was impressive against Central Square, routing the Redhawks 5-0.
Ryan Brazell, with one goal and two assists, and Sam Bobrek, who scored twice, led a balanced Red Rams attack. Johnny Keib tacked on a goal and Chris Barbuto earned an assist.
Then, on Saturday, J-D lost, 2-1, to the same C-NS team that lost to ESM earlier in the week. Brazell’s goal, assisted by Bobrek, was not enough as Robert Bateman and Jacob Potter converted for the Northstars.
Christian Brothers Academy was quite impressive in last Tuesday’s 8-3 victory over Chittenango, using its vast skill to overcome some shaky defense.
Andrew Kohlbrenner and Will Harrigan both scored twice, with Benito Vlassis getting a goal and two assists. Jack Harrigan, Santiago Betancourt and Michael Heyboer each had one goal and one assist as Srvavan Kodaali, Tristen Kucera and Rico Petrosillo earned assists, too.
CBA then handled Tully 5-1 on Friday night, with Vlassis and Harrigan each getting two goals. Betancourt had the other goal as Connor Morgia had a pair of assists. Assists also went to Kucera and Jack Griffith.
A fifth straight win followed on Saturday, CBA beating Fabius-Pompey in another 5-1 decision where Vlassis got a three-goal hat trick. Petrosillo and Steven Spoto scored, too, with Betancourt notching a pair of assists.
Manlius-Pebble Hill leaned on Chance Mugabe as it turned back Faith Heritage 3-1 in its last regular-season home game on Thursday to improve to 4-3 overall.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Trojans got even with a Mugabe goal, pulled in front when Mugabe scored again and then saw him tack on a third goal for the hat trick, with assists going to Alex Fung, Johnny Gruninger and Andrew Warren.
Bishop Grimes found its way to the win column for the first time last Tuesday, breaking a six-game skid with a 2-0 shutout of the Onondaga Tigers. Patrick Nimineh and Stephen DiBlasi were responsible for the Cobras’ scoring plays, with Brad Livesay stopping each of the four shots OCS took.
