CENTRAL NEW YORK – It hasn’t taken long to see that Skaneateles and Westhill have lined themselves up as the main challengers to Marcellus in area high school Class D boys lacrosse.
These two proud, fierce programs would clash with one another last Tuesday at Hyatt Stadium, and it did not disappoint, the state no. 9-ranked Lakers’ strength in the game’s middle stages the difference in an 11-9 win over the state no. 6-ranked Warriors.
After playing to a 2-2 tie in the first quarter, Skaneateles inched out in front during the second period, where both attacks were able to find some success. Then the Lakers’ defense held Westhill to just a single goal in the third quarter.
Trailing 9-6 going to the final period, Skaneateles was able to hold off the Warriors’ late comeback attempt, having seen Luke Logan turn back 16 of Westhill’s 25 shots.
Sean Kerwick anchored the attack, his career-best seven assists often going to either Jack Torrey or Charlie Carbonaro as they got four goals apiece. Luke Mizro and Landen Brunelle each had one goal and one assist as Devon Gryzlo added an assist and Heschel Eidel picked up 10 faceoffs.
On Westhill’s side, Charlie DeMore, with four goals, had nearly half his team’s output. Jack Hayes got two goals and two assists, with Andrew Mondo, Tom Pendergast and Shamus Edlund earning the other goals and Owen Etoll held to a single assist.
Two days later, Skaneateles had another showdown – with West Genesee, who looked to build upon its seven-game win streak and improve on its no. 6 state Class B rankings, and did so, barely.
The Wildcats’ 10-9 win was keyed by a second quarter where it outscored the Lakers 4-1 to erase a 3-2 deficit, then deftly answered every Skaneateles challenge thrown at them.
A lot of this was due to Gary McLane, who constantly found his way past Skaneateles defenders and set a career mark with seven goals, all but carrying WG’s attack.
Charlie Lockwood assisted on three of those goals and scored twice, Nolan Bellotti earning the other goal. Mizro scored four times for the Lakers as Kerwick got two goals and equaled Carbonaro’s two assists. Gryzlo, Brunelle and Torrey had the other goals as Logan and Jack Marquardt combined for 17 saves.
WG had already impressed last Tuesday at Mike Messere Field with a 19-8 romp over Cicero-North Syracuse, who entered the night 6-1 and sporting a no. 10 state Class A ranking.
The Wildcats were up 6-2 on the Northstars after one period and kept adding to that margin all night, with11 different players netting at least one goal and Jonah Vormwold again dominating face-offs, grabbing 20 of the 24 draws he took.
Bellotti had four goals, with Lockwood getting two goals and four assists and Jacob Pensabene getting two goals and two assists. McLane and Chace Cogan both had two goals and one assist and Vormwold also converted twice.
The loss to Skaneateles did not have a lingering effect for Westhill as, on Friday afternoon, it overcame a strong second quarter by Homer and dominated the rest of the way to beat the Trojans 11-6.
Homer’s 5-1 run in the second period created a 6-4 lead at the break, but Westhill pitched a shutout the rest of the way, holding the Trojans to just 13 shots overall.
On the other end, it was a near-perfect scoring balance, with Hayes, Pendergast, Etoll and Josh Gratien each scoring twice and combining for five assists. Charlie DeMore and Andrew Mondo both had one goal and one assist and Teddy DeMore also scored.
In Saturday’s action, Skaneateles blasted Section II’s Columbia 16-2. Carbonaro and Torrey both had three-goal hat tricks, with Brunelle, Quinn Cheney and Tye Kennedy each scoring twice and Kennedy earning a pair of assists. Andrew Falkenberg, Ty Calabro, Carter Loi and Braedan Taggart also earned goals.
