ONONDAGA COUNTY – With no one standing out early this season in the SCAC Metro division, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls soccer team still had ample time to reestablish its place at the top of the standings.
And the Hornets began that quest last Wednesday night at Bragman Stadium, where its defense was able to keep Cicero-North Syracuse off the board and one scoring play was enough to prevail 1-0 over the Northstars.
C-NS had an unbeaten 2021 regular season before Liverpool shocked them in the Section III Class AA semifinals, opening the path for F-M to repeat as champions.
Off to a 4-2-1 start this fall, the Northstars kept the Hornets quiet in the first half and had most of the good chances throughout the night.
However, Mackenzie Murphy stopped all nine shots she faced, and her effort was rewarded when Morgan Goodman, unassisted, netted the game’s lone goal in the second half.
When F-M met up with Liverpool on Friday night in a rematch of last fall’s sectional Class AA final, it was the Warriors’ fifth game in seven days.
Even so, Liverpool was able to play on even terms with the Hornets for 80 minutes, leading to overtime, where it took barely two minutes for F-M to attack – and put in the game-winner.
Goodman and Una Vlasak both picked up one goal and one assist, with Lexi Caron also finding the net. McKenzie Romocki picked up an assist as Murphy’s eight saves overcame Liverpool goals by Alexa Marsh and Grace Muller.
Christian Brothers Academy went up to Mexico last Tuesday night, and while its defense was sound, it could not get on the board, either, the Brothers and Tigers playing to a 0-0 draw.
Then, on Friday night, CBA lost, 2-1, in overtime to Cazenovia, having erased a 1-0 deficit when Lauren Zollo scored on a second-half free kick.
However, it went to OT and Ella Baker, who had scored in the first half, returned to put the game-winner off a feed from Hannah Ruddy. CBA fell to 3-3-1 overall as it saw Lakers goalie Skye Sanford make 10 saves
Manlius Pebble Hill saw its week commence with a rough outing against Jordan-Elbridge last Monday where it gave up four goals in each half and fell to the Eagles 8-1.
Then, in a 4-1 defeat to Fabius-Pompey last Wednesday, Lilah Temes scored to put the Trojans on the board, but it was far from enough as Marissa Trommel (two goals) and Maddy Haaf (one goal, one assist) led the Falcons. Mira Fadda-Conrey earned nine saves.
