ONONDAGA COUNTY – All that the Fayetteville-Manilus girls soccer team has gone through, both in a positive and negative stance, has led to what happens over the next couple of weeks.
With the possibility of a third consecutive Section III Class AA championship at hand, the Hornets wanted as much momentum as possible going into the post-season, even if the schedule made that difficult to achieve.
Fresh off a crucial Oct. 7 home win over Cicero-North Syracuse that put it back atop the SCAC Metro division standings, F-M got challenged by reigning state Class A champion New Hartford last Monday afternoon.
And the Spartans, still atop the state Class A rankings, blanked the Hornets 4-0, nearly equaling what state no. 2-ranked East Syracuse Minoa did early in September in a 5-0 decision.
Here, F-M kept New Hartford relatively contained until the second half, when things got away. Anna Rayhill scored twice and Willa Pratt had a goal and two assists as Amanda Graziano got the other goal.
With no rest, the Hornets had to turn around and, a night later, visit a Liverpool side it beat 3-2 in September. And it was on the brink of a season sweep when, in a stunning turnaround, the Warriors rallied to prevail 2-1 in overtime.
All looked fine when, after a scoreless first half, F-M picked up pressure in the second half and, with 17:29 left, Morgan Goodman drilled a 30-yard free kick into the top center of the net.
But after midfielder Molly Ryan was injured with nine minutes to play, a fired-up Warriors squad picked up pressure. Charging up the middle, Grace Muller was fouled inside the 18-yard box with 3:25 left in regulation, and Jailyn Parrotte converted the penalty kick, putting it past a diving Mackenzie Murphy.
Each side had many chances in the first OT without settling the game. Early in the second OT, Liverpool goalie Hannah Smith twice robbed Mary Coughlin of possible game-winning goals and thwarted Una Vlasak on another point-blank chance.
Then, with 2:59 to go, a pass from the left sprung Muller in space up the middle and she quickly fired a hard shot past a charging Murphy to win it for the Warriors.
Back home Thursday to face Baldwinsville, F-M roared back to the win column, prevailing 3-0 as Lexi Caron scored twice and Goodman had the other goal, the Hornets limiting the Bees to just three shots all night.
As the no. 3 seed in a six-team sectional Class AA bracket, F-M needs to beat no. 6 seed Syracuse United Thursday to earn a berth in next Wednesday’s semifinal against C-NS, the no. 2 seed.
