The idea of a late-season boys lacrosse game between West Genesee and Fayetteville-Manlius that is not the focal point of the local scene is, in most cases absurd, but not in 2016.
Both the Wildcats and Hornets have scuffled throughout the spring, before and after their previous encounter in Camillus where F-M pulled out a 9-8 decision on April 22 when Spencer McNamara’s game-tying shot crashed off the pipe in the final seconds.
Instead of using that win as a boost up the standings, F-M lost twice in the ensuing two weeks, to Cicero-North Syracuse (in overtime) and Auburn, while WG had its own problems, taking road losses at Baldwinsville and Jamesville-DeWitt as April wound down.
Once the calendar turned to May, though, WG still found itself with a chance to restore some semblance of order in time for its Section III Class A title defense. And the process began last Wednesday night at Mike Messere Field with an efficient, solid all-around performance in a 14-7 victory over the Liverpool Warriors.
Steadily, the Wildcats built a 9-5 halftime lead, and then its defense took over, limiting Liverpool to a single scoring play in each of the last two periods. By contrast, WG’s Kevin Sheehan nearly matched the Warriors by himself, netting a career-best six goals to go with an assist.
Tyler Shoults, with four assists, and Conor Bartlett, with three assists, offered plenty of help as Matt McDonald and Ryan Smith both scored twice. McNamara, Ryan McDonald and Manny Castro joined Shoults in notching single goals as Ryan Mavretish recorded eight saves.
Two nights later, at Corcoran High School, WG met the same Syracuse Cougars side it beat 9-3 on April 20 despite all of its troubles. What the Wildcats never expected was how the Cougars would completely turn things around here and prevail by an 11-8 margin.
How the game started and ended would make the difference. Syracuse jumped on WG’s defense in a way few others had all season and grabbed a 5-3 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The pace slowed from there, but the Wildcats couldn’t make up ground. So it still trailed by two, 9-7, going to the fourth quarter, where the Cougars were able to close it out because it had far more offensive options.
Shoults was sensational, earning six goals and one assist, but didn’t get any help as McNamara, Sheehan and Castro netted the only other goals. By contrast, six Syracuse players found the net as Sean Eccles led with three goals and two assists. Keison Cannon, Sterling Claflin and John Elliott had two goals apiece.
Between the F-M and Liverpool rematches, the Wildcats knew more challenges lay ahead, especially having seen the Hornets upend Jamesville-DeWitt 12-11 in overtime on Saturday night just days after a loss to Auburn.
