CENTRAL NEW YORK – Moving up to no. 11 in last week’s state Class AA rankings, the East Syracuse Minoa girls soccer team was supposed to gain some benefit from its thrilling 3-2 win over Fayetteville-Manlius on Sept. 30.

Instead, as October got underway the undefeated Spartans suffered its first setback when it went to Liverpool last Tuesday and found itself shut down by the Warriors in a 2-0 defeat.

And this happened as F-M, on that same night, did something ESM couldn’t pull off earlier this season – knock off West Genesee as the Hornets, by a 1-0 margin, gave the Wildcats its first loss of the season.

WG was 8-0-2, but the first half was dominated by the defenses, with few real scoring opportunities and little pressure on the net.

That changed early in the second half, when Tori Hulbert almost flew in a direct corner kick in the opening minutes and the game opened up, ultimately to F-M’s benefit.

In the 50th minute, a cross by Mara Gloo from the right corner fell in front of Julia Poissant, and when she couldn’t take hold of it, Mary Coughlin poked in the go-ahead goal.

Barely a minute later, WG’s Olivia Snyder could not capitalize on a point-blank look in front of the Hornet’s net, and from there F-M continued to hold on, Mackenzie Murphy ultimately stopping all nine shots she faced.

This took place as ESM went to Liverpool and found itself frustrated from the moment the game kicked off, each of its chances turned back by a Warriors defense that shadowed 100-goal scorer Leah Rehm all the way.

On the other end, Liverpool went up 1-0 by halftime, doubled that margin in the second half and saw Grace Sleeth protect it by recording 10 saves, rewarding the goals put up by Mia Wright and Alexa Marsh against Juilana Orcutt, who had six saves.

ESM rebounded Thursday with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Jamesville-DeWitt, the second time the Spartans had shut out the Red Rams this fall.

Despite its 3-7 record, J-D made everything difficult, its defense doing most of the work as Brooke Bort made 13 saves. All that Bort allowed was Leah Chavoustie’s decisive goal, which was unassisted.

This happened as F-M lost 4-3 to Section II’s Shaker, a game where Morgan Goodman nearly won it by herself, netting a three-goal hat trick to give her 20 for the season, equaling her 2022 total. Murphy finished with 13 saves.

Saturday’s action saw ESM go on the road take a 2-1 defeat to Section V’s Victor, Kyleigh Smith getting the lone Spartans goal assisted by Alina Krdciz.

Also, J-D rebounded from its earlier struggles Saturday by beating Christian Brothers Academy 2-1, the Red Rams overcoming Katherine Williamson’s goal with tallies by Noor El-Zammar and Liliana Santoro as Brooke Bort assisted on both goals.

Before this, J-D took a 3-1 defeat to Baldwinsville last Tuesday night, getting on the board in the first half but seeing the Bees pull away late helped by goals from Nadia Guzman and Gabriella Valentine.

That same night, CBA got a 2-0 shutout of Phoenix, the Brothers only needing goals from Williamson and Ciara Duggan as Neveah Bacheyle assisted on both scoring plays.

Two days later, CBA played Cazenovia to a 1-1 draw. Cara Macaluso’s 12 saves kept the Lakers from going in front as Olivia Jones netted her team’s lone goal, assisted by Francesca Canzano.

Bishop Grimes had to go up against unbeaten, state Class D no. 2-ranked Bishop Ludden last Monday afternoon and took a 4-1 defeat to the Gaelic Knights, who got two goals apiece from Ashley Pawelczyk and Elizabeth Gaughan to offeset Myla Panklow’s goal for the Cobras. Bailee Halsey finished with 14 saves.

A 3-0 loss to Tully followed on Wednesday, the Black Knights using two second-half goals to get away and overcome eight saves by Grimes goalie June Hilton. Then Grimes fell 7-0 to Chittenango on Friday.

Manlius Pebble Hill lost, 3-1, to Otselic Valley last Monday afternoon, though Lilah Temes did get a goal for the Trojans and Mira Fadda-Conrey stopped 15 of Otselic’s 18 shots. A 9-0 defeat to Fabius-Pompey followed two nights later, McKenna Johnson leading the Falcons with three goals and one assist.