Not even two weeks into the regular season, boys lacrosse titans got together last Saturday in the form of Jamesville-DeWitt visiting Mike Messere Field in Camillus to take on the West Genesee Wildcats.
Yet it quickly was apparent that the Red Rams were much further along than WG at this early point, as it controlled matters on both sides of the ball and rolled to a 13-7 victory.
During a decisive first quarter, J-D bolted out to a 4-0 lead before Jack Howes’ goal. Ryan Archer lit the spark for the Rams as the senior attacker twice scored on aggressive moves to the net and assisted on Griffin Cook’s goal, too.
Even when WG’s Ryan Smith found the net midway through the second quarter, it came after a series of near-misses by the Wildcats, and was quickly answered. Archer hit on two more goals and found Jake Mulvihill for another, all in a span of 69 seconds, extending the Rams’ margin to 8-2 by halftime.
Briefly, WG threatened to make it interesting in the third quarter as its defense tightened and it used goals by Max Rosa and Kevin Sheehan to close the gap to 8-4. But the Wildcats were shut out the rest of the period, while Archer, Cook and Casey Platenik all scored to nearly double J-D’s margin.
Archer finished with five goals and four assists as Cook converted four times. On WG’s side, Sheehan got two goals and two assists, with Howes adding two goals and one assist, but J-D’s back line of seniors Tom Edson, Nick Palin and Jake Socia constantly frustrated the Wildcts, while goalie Bennett Chirco recorded 10 saves.
J-D tuned up for West Genesee last Thursday with a 16-9 victory over Churchville-Chili (Section V), a game decided in the first half when the Rams bolted out to a 14-2 advantage, allowing it to rest starters in the game’s latter stages.
Cook nabbed five goals, with Archer and Andrew Barclay each getting two goals and three assists. Casey Platenik and Jack Mulvihill also scored twice as Joe Kiesa and Adam Fontana both had one goal and one assist. Jacob Rivasi also had a goal.
Before all this, Christian Brothers Academy, beaten at home by J-D 16-9 in its March 31 opener, rebounded in a big way, beating Tully 18-5, and then on Thursday getting a bit of payback against undefeated Skaneateles in a 15-6 victory over the Lakers.
Each of the Brothers’ players remembered how Skaneateles topped them in last May’s Section III Class C quarterfinal. Now they were together again, and following a 3-3 first quarter, CBA’s defense held the Lakers to a single tally the rest of the first half.
Still, it wasn’t until the third quarter that the Brothers took over. In waves, the CBA forwards punished Skaneateles defenders and didn’t let up until it had outscored the Lakers 8-1 in that frame and put the game out of reach.
Ben McCreary and Mike Matheson both scored four times, with McCreary tacking on three assists. Close behind them, Alex Calkins and Augie Bonacci both notched three-goal hat tricks of their own, with Mike Adornato getting a goal and three assists. Patrick O’Brien also had an assist.
Against Tully, Calkins and McCreary both got seven points, Calkins getting four goals and three assists and McCreary getting three goals and four assists.
Bonacci, with three goals and two assists, started to find his top form as Matteson got two goals and two assists. Adornato also found the net twice as O’Brien had one goal and one assist. Eli Weiss, Matt Luddington and Ian Henderson got single tallies.
CBA stayed hot on Saturday with a 21-11 victory over LaFayette, where things were close until the Brothers shut out the Lancers in the second quarter, netting five straight goals to gain a 9-3 edge.
As it got away late, the Brothers had McCreary and Matheson both amass five goals and one assists, balanced out by Calkins and Bonacci each earning four goals and two assists. Adornato added three goals as O’Brien earned four assists and Weiss got an assist, too.
East Syracuse Minoa would take its first blemish of the season last Tuesday night, against Marcellus, victimized by a late comeback in an 11-10 defeat to the Mustangs.
What made it more frustrating for the Spartans was that it trailed, 5-1, after one period, and then dominated the game’s middle stages, shutting down Marcellus and working its way to an 8-6 lead.
Marcellus had the last run, though, outscoring ESM 5-2 in the fourth quarter as Gabe VanOrder (four goals, two assists) and Sam Rice (three goals) led the rally. This wasted three-goal hat tricks from Derrek and Lance Madonna, with Derrek adding two assists.
Luke Rosaschi had his own fine outing with two goals and two assists. David Neff and Nate Jacobs each scored once, with Dan Boland getting an assist. Andrew Steigerwald finished with 14 saves.
Now ESM looked to bounce back in Friday’s game against Jordan-Elbridge, and did so, though it squandered a big lead in the second half before beating the Eagles 13-11.
Trailing 8-3 at halftime, J-E made it all the way back behind three-goal hat tricks from Dale Wagner and Dylan Dunham, with Hunter Brunelle getting two goals and two assists and Schwarting also scoring twice. Falcone had the other goal.
Despite the rally, J-E saw an 11-11 tie broken when Lance Madonna netted the go-ahead goal late in the fourth quarter and, minutes later, assisted on Neff’s insurance tally, his third of the game. The Eagles were also frustrated by the work of Spartans goalie Andrew Steigerwald, who made 19 saves.
Neff was part of a well-balanced ESM attack as Jacobs also scored three times, with Derrek Madonna getting two goals and three assists. Rosaschi had two goals and two assists as Lance Madonna picked up three assists, helped by goals from Boland and Alex Recor.
