ONONDAGA COUNTY – Rarely in the history of the West Genesee girls lacrosse program has it dealt with four consecutive defeats.
Yet that’s what the Wildcats had to confront when it took on Fayetteville-Manlius last Thursday night, determined not to let things get worse.
And by the smallest possible margin, WG got it, prevailing 9-8 over the Hornets in a game that closely resembled their first meeting April 17 in Camillus that the Wildcats pulled out 10-9.
Unlike that first meeting, F-M did not have Julianna Colgiandro in the lineup, yet still found a main scoring threat in Sarah Porter, who burned WG for four goals as Taylor Novack scored twice.
To counter it, the Wildcats leaned heavily on its defense, which frustrated the Hornets at key moments, and its depth, with eight different goal-scorers, twice F-M’s total.
Only Caraline Major converted twice, with Olivia Blanding getting a goal and three assists. Ashleigh Blanding, Molly Doran, Mia Gialto, Maria Snyder, Madelyn Ryder and Mia Kehoskie also had goals, Sofia Snyder adding an assist.
WG had lost, 9-7, to Fulton on April 29, a game that gained extra emotional meaning for Fulton when, a day later, one of its players, Rylee Bartlett, lost her life in an automobile accident.
Absorbing all this, the Wildcats had to turn around and face another reigning sectional champion when it faced Baldwinsville last Tuesday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
To its credit, the Wildcats outscored the Bees in the second half, but only after falling behind 8-2 in the opening half of a game B’ville went on to win by a 10-7 margin.
Olivia Blanding had three goals and an assist. Molly Doran scored twice, with Ashleigh Blanding and Mia Gialto getting the other goals as Allie Hanlon recorded 11 saves. For B’ville, Brianna Peters and Mia Pozzi each got three goals and one assist as Carlie Desimone had a goal and four assists.
While WG’s girls were battling F-M, the boys Wildcats were seeking payback for an earlier defeat to Liverpool and, with a strong second half and a career-best performance from Liam Burns, achieved it, winning by a score of 18-12.
It was Burns who took over after a wild first half that saw WG put up plenty of offense, yet still fall behind 10-9. The combination of Burns’ scoring runs and passes produced a big third-quarter push where it outscored Liverpool 6-2.
All told, Burns had seven goals and six assists, having a part in all but five of the Wildcats’ scoring plays as Ryan Considine scored four times and Jack Mellen three times, each adding an assist. Nolan Belotti and Nash Oudemool added one goal apiece.
Even more important for WG was what it did Saturday against fellow Class B contender Christian Brothers Academy, breaking open a tight contest in the third quarter and beating the Brothers 19-12.
A back-and-forth first half saw CBA play the Wildcats to a 9-9 stalemate, but in the third WG dominated face-offs and turned them into five unanswered goals, accounting for most of the eventual winning margin.
Burns and Belotti both netted four goals and Burns added four assists. Mellen and Considine each got three goals and one assist, with Jack Giannuzzi and Jake McMahon both scoring twice and adding an assist.
