For the rest of their lives, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team of 2020 will wonder if it was good enough to grab the program’s long-elusive prize of a state championship.
What the Hornets would “settle” for was 11 games without a single blemish, and though it was denied a chance at 12 when a game at Baldwinsville got canceled again, its last game perfectly encapsulated what it had done all season.
On Nov. 6 F-M put on quite a show at West Genesee, setting a season mark for goals and thrashing the Wildcats 12-2.
In a rare case of teammates earning hat tricks, Michael OuYang joined Cheech Pagano in netting three goals, with Pagano adding two assists.
Nino Pagano and Ziad-Abdul Malak each found the net twice as Pagano also got a pair of assists. Ridvan Dinc and Josh Kohlbrenner also had goals, with Matt Fiorentino and Nick Donnelly getting two assists apiece. Tyler Goodman and Riley Warren-Nichols each got one assist.
For the season, Cheech Pagano accumulated 18 goals and five assists, and in a matter of weeks he will enroll at Syracuse University with an eye toward playing with the Orange in the fall of 2021.
Nino Pagano, scheduled to return for F-M next fall, had 17 goals and seven assists, while Abdul-Malak earned eight goals and nine assists. Warren-Nichols had seven assists and Fiorentino gained five assists.
Overall, in its 11 games F-M netted 56 goals, averaging better than five per outing, while only allowing six.
