The final journey of West Genesee boys lacrosse coaches Mike Messere and Bob Deegan through a state Class A tournament would include many familiar markers.
One of them was Saturday’s Class A regional final at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium against Section IV champion Ithaca, a team the Wildcats beat plenty of times on the way to its previous 15 state titles and 21 state finals appearances.
Here, the prospect that it could be the last game for the Messere-Deegan tandem did not scare WG one bit as, thanks to a second-half scoring outburst, the Wildcats put away the Little Red 13-4.
With that win, WG earned another game on the Bragman Stadium turf next Wednesday at 6:30 in the state semifinals against Section VI champion Lancaster, who is in this round for the first time. The winner there goes to the June 9 state final at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford against Niskayuna or Ward Melville.
Against Ithaca, it proved a slower start than in the sectional final against Fayetteville-Manlius, with the Wildcats taking more than four minutes before getting on the board with Ryan Sheehan’s goal.
Once that happened, though, WG appeared to settle down as Ryan Smith’s back-to-back goals built a 3-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Initially, the defense did fine, even after Tom Baker left early with an injury. Mike McGuigan, Kevin Snow, Griffin Sasso and the rest of the back line offered protection to sophomore goalie Luke Staudt, who made plenty of big stops of his own.
Yet Ithaca stayed patient and, in the second quarter, made up most of the ground. Only Jack Howes’ goal kept the Wildcats in front, 4-3, going into halftime, with Ithaca goalie Julio Ciaschi constantly making big stops throughout the half.
A key moment came when WG stopped two Ithaca man-up situations early in the third quarter. An even bigger play came on the other end when John Bergan chased down a ground ball before it reached midfield, initiating an attack that led to Max Rosa’s goal.
That was the Wildcats’ first goal in 11-plus minutes, and a lot more would follow as Pat Stanistreet started to dominate in the face-off circle, leading to constant possessions – and constant conversions, too.
Howes and Smith both scored twice, while Kevin Sheehan and Anthony Datellas also converted all of it before the third quarter ended, turning a close game into a comfortable margin.
Up 10-3 now, WG didn’t let up as Howes, Bergan and Kevin Sheehan all scored early in the fourth quarter to stretch the margin to double digits. Ithaca ultimately went 24-plus minutes without finding the net, far too big of a drought to overcome.
Unlike West Genesee, Westhill is new to this state tournament scene, but after achieving its first-ever sectional title it did not have a letdown Saturday as it beat Johnson City 16-9 in the Class C regional final.
From the time Owen Matukas scored to break a 1-1 tie less than three minutes into the game, Westhill led, as it added goals by Charlie Bolesh and Will Delano before the first quarter was over.
Then, with the score 5-2 late in the second period, the Warriors made its big move. Owen Gilmartin and Reilly Sizing both converted, as did Jack Grooms, doubling the margin to 8-2 before they hit the break.
Essentially, the whole second half was spent protecting that lead with sporadic scoring bursts whenever Johnson City tried to make up ground.
Bolesh finished with four goals and two assists, while Sizing stepped up for a three-goal hat trick to match that of Grooms, who also got two assists. Gilmartin and Mack Etoll both earned a pair of goals as Matukas got our assists.
On Wednesday night at 6:30, Westhill goes to Pittsford’s St. John Fisher College to meet Section VI champion West Seneca East in a rare state semifinal between two sides who have never made it this far before. The winner gets to return to Fisher Saturday for the state final against Pelham or Islip.
