A run to last season’s Section III Class C semifinals has the Marcellus boys lacrosse team hungry to see if it can go even further.

Led by head coach Leo McInerney, the Mustangs began play in 2013 by hosting the Finger Lakes Classic and splitting a pair of contests against CNY Counties league opponents.

It started Thursday night, against Auburn, where the Mustangs gradually took control in the game’s middle stages and pulled away late to rout the Maroons 11-2.

Neither team was sharp at the start, but it was Marcellus able to establish its attack on a consistent basis during the second quarter, seizing a 3-1 lead.

During the third period, the Mustangs kept building that margin, to 7-2, and shut down Auburn the rest of the way as goalies Jake Lilly and Connor Donovan combined for 15 saves.

On the other end, Marcellus displayed plenty of depth. Ross Filtch led the way, scoring three times and adding an assist. Tom McNaney and Ben Powers both finished with two goals and one assist, while , Harrison Cox, Morgan Reilly, Matt Hutchings and John Dunn got one goal apiece. Kevin Hutchings got a pair of assists.

This led to Saturday afternoon’s game against Baldwinsville, where the Mustangs could not hold a second-half lead and fell, 6-5, to the Bees.

Trailing 1-0 after one period, Marcellus sped in front 3-2 by halftime. B’ville pulled back even, 5-5, in an active third quarter, and edged in front on Zack Bulak’s goal early in the final period.

Despite all sorts of chances to pull back even and perhaps force overtime, the Mustangs could not pull it off. Five different players – Dunn, Filtch, Reilly, Hutchings and McNaney – scored the five Marcellus goals. Lilly played the whole game in the net, stopping 14 of 19 shots.

As this went on, Westhill, 9-8 a season ago (it lost to Cazenovia in the Class C quarterfinals), played its first home game in two years, opening the season with a 13-3 victory over General Brown.

The Warriors played its entire 2012 schedule on the road as its new artificial turf field was installed. Now that it doesn’t have to travel 17 times this spring, Westhill has higher expectations for itself, which showed against General Brown.

After a scoreless first period, the Warriors took over by getting eight unanswered goals in the second and third quarters. And it was a freshman, John Zimmerman, leading the charge, eventually producing five goals and one assist.

Richie Easterly had three assists to go with his lone goal. Luke Longo, Jack Centore and Mark Purcell each got a goal and two assists, while Ryan Suddaby had one goal and one assist. Andrew French, Mike Cisternino and Evan Radin found the net, too.