When the Section III Class C boys lacrosse playoff pairings came out, Marcellus had the no. 2 seed and Westhill the no. 3 seed, meaning that, if it both win a pair of playoff rounds, they will face each other in the sectional semifinals with a berth in Saturday’s title game at the Carrier Dome at stake.
Saturday’s opening round proved easy enough, Marcellus wiping out no. 15 seed Clinton 20-1 as it gained a 13-0 halftime lead and ultimately saw 12 different players notch a goal by game’s end. Kieran Tierney led with four goals and one assist. Tim O’Sullivan had a career-best five assists to go with one goal.
Matt Hutchings, Ross Filtch, Gabe Van Order, Matt Kaczor and Matt Chrysler each would score twice against Clinton. Liam Tierney had a goal and two assists, while Maverick Keegan, Sam Rice, Matt Reich and Gavin Hoey joined O’Sullivan with single goals. Rohe had two assists and Donovan one assist.
Westhill recorded a near-identical 21-1 win over no. 14 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, getting 12 of those goals in the first quarter alone, an average of one goal per minute as Ryan Zimmerman piled up five goals and three assists before making an early exit and Luke McAnaney added four assists.
Casey Rogers, Charlie Bolesh and Hunter Waddington each got three-goal hat tricks, with Rogers adding two assists. Jack Grooms had two goals and two assists as Braeden Elmer, Andrew Hodgens, Matt Killory, John Grabda and Matt McAnaney also found the goal-scoring column.
In Tuesday night’s quarterfinals, Westhill will need to turn back no. 6 seed LaFayette, who has won eight of its last nine games and is far removed from the side the Warriors routed 16-5 in late March as it routed Cortland 20-4 in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Marcellus would draw no. 7 seed Homer, who barely got past South Jefferson 10-9 in its opening-round sectional game, but still pushed the Mustangs in a 13-10 decision a month ago.
