Every high school boys lacrosse program in Central New York – heck, most programs in the United States – measures itself against West Genesee.
But by its own measure, the Wildcats haven’t gained much recent satisfaction. True, WG reached the state Class A final in 2013, but it also lost close sectional finals in 2012 (to Liverpool) and 2014 (to Fayetteville-Manlius), and both of them stung.
Head coach Mike Messere, who is inching closer to 800 career victories, is determined to get the Wildcats back to that championship level in his 40th season at the helm, and WG took a positive first step in last Saturday night’s season opener at Onondaga Community College, where it beat Penfield 10-4.
Long a Section V power, Penfield provided the Wildcats with a good barometer of how its pre-season work would translate into regular-season results.
On the defensive side, WG was in top form, blanking the Patriots until the second quarter, by which time it had already built a 3-0 lead, and would match anything Penfield established.
Any hopes the Patriots had of making it stressful in the late stages went away when WG shut them out again in the third quarter, and it may have proved more lopsided were it not for great work by Penfield goalie Willie Klan, who had 14 saves.
Nick Cunningham, with three goals and one assist, and Mike Fletcher, with two goals and two assists, led a well-balanced WG attack. Nick Mellen and Matt McDonald each had one goal and one assist, with David Procopio, Ryan McDonald and Tyler Shoults landing the other goals.
Thus capped a fun day for Wildcats lacrosse that had started when former WG star Dylan Donahue scored seven goals for Syracuse’s men’s team as it rallied from a six-goal deficit before losing in double overtime to Notre Dame in a showdown of the nation’s top two-ranked teams in South Bend.
WG would have its home opener Tuesday night, against Baldwinsville, and is home again this Saturday to take on another Section V power, Fairport, before an April 7 visit from F-M.
