BALDWINSVILLE – Among area large-school boys soccer teams, the balance of power has shifted constantly between Baldwinsville and Fayetteville-Manlius in the last decade.
Case in point – the Bees won the last Section III Class AA title handed out in 2019, but in the fall of 2020 it was the Hornets who were a perfect 11-0, including its lone head-to-head game with B’ville.
Now, as the 2021 season got underway, the first full week of the season concluded with these two powers meeting up once again on the turf at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, and settling nothing as the two sides ended up 0-0.
F-M had started 3-0 with wins over Henninger, East Syracuse Minoa and Cicero-North Syracuse (the last of them a 1-0 decision in overtime), while B’ville had taken the field twice, starting last Tuesday to defeat PSLA-Fowler 2-1 in its opener.
Aidan Stan had put the Bees in front with the game barely 14 minuets old, only to have the Falcons counter on a goal by Abdi Adbirahanan in the 31st minute.
They stayed 1-1 for a while, but with the game threatening to go to overtime, B’ville pulled it out when, with 2:40 left, Stan’s pass found Greg Ramin, who headed in the go-ahead goal.
In its own game against Nottingham on Thursday, B’ville again was pushed, and again needed to score in the latter stages of regulation to pull out a 1-0 decision over the Bulldogs.
Nottingham had all kinds of chances throughout the game, yet could not get any of its eight shots past Bees goalie Emmett Bauer.
The effort of B’ville’s defenders was rewarded when Stan, unassisted, netted the game’s only goal in the second half, giving his side enough momentum heading into the F-M clash.
Right from the outset, the Bees focused its attention on Hornets forward (and Syracuse University recruit) Nino Pagano, frustrating him and leaving him little space to operate.
The combined efforts of Carson Way, Miles Spiegel, Drew Gates and other back-line stars made things easier for Bauer, who stopped all eight shots he faced.
In fact, it was B’ville who had, by far, the best chance to win it, as late in regulation a superb cross was headed by Jake Daly right on target – and off the post. A possible winning free kick in the second OT by Stan sailed over the net.
Now the Bees get two back-to-back road tests, at West Genesee on Tuesday and Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday night.
