ONONDAGA COUNTY – Still charged with the difficult task of following a perfect 11-0 campaign in 2020, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys soccer team made it through the early hurdles.
And this included last Saturday’s visit to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium to face Baldwinsville, who won the last Section III Class AA title handed out in 2019 after the top-seeded Hornets were upset by Liverpool in the quarterfinals.
Back together, the Hornets and Bees ended up going 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime without a goal, the 0-0 draw only making the Sept. 28 rematch carry more weight.
F-M had won each of its first three games, while the Bees had pulled off narrow wins over PSLA-Fowler (2-1) and Henninger (1-0) in the lead-up to this showdown.
Right from the outset, the defenses were in control, rarely allowing close-up opportunities. On the Hornets’ side, Antoine Aombe, Ryan Freyer and Sam Razmjou led a back line which adjusted well and limited B’ville to two shots, both stopped by Sam Duncanson.
On the other end, the Bees focused its energies on containing Nino Pagano, and he rarely got open looks. F-M’s best chance came from Michael OuYang, whose second-half attempt was smothered by Emmett Bauer.
Jake Daly nearly won it for B’ville late in regulation, his header crashing off the post, and Aidan Stan sent a close-up free kick in the last minute of the second OT period over the net.
After rallying from a one-goal halftime deficit to beat Henninger 2-1 on Sept. 1, the Hornets met its neighbors from East Syracuse Minoa two days later and didn’t need any comeback.
In a 2-0 victory over the Spartans, F-M netted both goals in the first half, one by Nino Pagano, the other by Will Forbes, with Riley Warren-Nichols and Tyler Koehne gaining assists.
ESM wasn’t in a defensive mode for the entire game, earning enough opportunities to force Hornets goalkeeper John Shiroff to make six saves to preserve the shutout.
Still at home last Thursday to face Cicero-North Syracuse, F-M was pushed past regulation, only to have Pagano rescue matters to pull off a 1-0 victory over the Northstars.
F-M’s attack did not lack for opportunities throughout the night against a resilient C-NS defense, yet saw 10 shots get picked up by Northstars goalie Wyatt Dupell.
Somehow, the Hornets kept its patience, kept attacking as the game drifted into OT. And it got decided when Pagano took a long pass on the left side and, despite two defenders draped on him and two more close at hand, flung a low shot past Dupell just inside the right post for the game-winner.
Just before F-M battled B’ville, ESM returned from a week’s rest to visit Rome Free Academy, and got its first win of the season, edging the Black Knights 2-1.
Second-half goals by Todd Durantini and Nic Paduano, each of them assisted by Joel Alvarez, proved enough to counter Colin Gannon’s goal for RFA.
