No schedule-maker did the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team any favors in 2015.
By the time the Hornets faced Baldwinsville on Friday afternoon, it had played five tough opponents in a span of 11 days, not really getting any chance to take what it had learned in those games and spend large amounts of practice time addressing them.
Following a 1-2 start that included three one-goal decisions (win over Auburn, losses to Jamesville-DeWitt and Liverpool), the Hornets reunited with West Genesee for the first time since last May’s Section III Class A final, but this time the Wildcats prevailed, by an 8-4 margin.
To say that WG avenged that sectional final defeat to F-M would overstate it, since the stakes were not the same, nor were the lineups thanks to plenty of roster turnover since 2014 on both sides.
But the Wildcats did gain, at least for now, the upper hand in this long rivalry, holding it for at least one month until the two sides gather again a month from now in Camillus.
WG, off to a 3-0 start following wins over Penfield, Baldwinsville and Fairport, never trailed and relied on mini-scoring bursts and tough defense to subdue F-M.
Mike Fletcher got WG on the board just 2:01 into the game, and Derek Farrell landed his first goal of the season less than 90 seconds later. The Wildcats controlled most of the first quarter, but saw F-M goalie Brian Charlamb make many tough point-blank stops, and two other shots bang off the posts.
Down 2-1 going to the second period, F-M did tie it on Lucas Hamel’s goal at the 3:35 mark, only to have David Procopio answer 29 seconds later, putting the Wildcats ahead for good.
Over the next four minutes, WG added two goals from Tyler Shoults and a second goal from Farrell in between Dylan Taylor-Wolford’s second tally, making it 6-3 going into halftime.
When Ryan McDonald and Nick Cunningham hit on back-to-back scoring plays 22 seconds apart early in the third quarter, it was 8-3. But the Wildcats did not score again, turned back by both unlucky shots off pipes and more great play from Charlamb, who finished with 16 saves.
Yet all F-M could manage in the entire second half was Mac Fish’s goal, assited by Taylor-Wolford, 5:23 into the third quarter. WG’s back line kept forcing F-M away from the net with man-to-man pressure, and even when the Hornets got some shots, Ryan Mavretish turned them back, stopping 16 of the 20 attempts he faced.
It wouldn’t get easier on Friday, when Baldwinsville, now under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Wilcox, visited F-M and tried to make it four defeats in a row.
But the Hornets wouldn’t let it happen, prevailing 10-7 in a game where it took a 4-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. All through the rest of the afternoon, B’ville would make runs, led by Charlie Bertrand, who had three goals, but every time the Hornets answered.
Four different players – Erik Badger, Griffin Cicci, Donovan Welsh and Tyler Papa – earned two goals apiece, part of a well-balanced attack where Mac Fish and Tommy Ryu also scored. Hamel notched a pair of assists and Charlamb again played well, recording 12 saves.
F-M would get a relative breather Tuesday against Central Square, but then turn around to visit Auburn Thursday and play at Skaneateles on Saturday, already hitting the midway point of its regular-season schedule.
