As far as difficult and challenging stretches go, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team has just about everyone else in Central New York covered.
In a five-day span, the Hornets would twice face Baldwinsville and, in between, make its annual trip to West Genesee, a stretch far more daunting than anything it would deal with once the post-season rolled around.
The first encounter between F-M and B’ville took place last Tuesday night, and it was an instant classic, the Hornets leading most of the way, but needing a late-game comeback and some overtime magic to edge the Bees 11-10.;
Amid cold, windy conditions, F-M didn’t need to warm up, jumping ahead 3-0 on goals by K.C. Miller, Jordan Leuze and Mike Curtis, but B’ville fought its way back, tying it 4-4 late in the second quarter.
Mike Howe’s goal had the Hornets up 5-4 at halftime, and it stayed in front for most of the third quarter, too, but B’ville again caught up and, after tying it 8-8, went in front with Spencer Wirtheim’s third and fourth goals early in the final period.
Now it was F-M’s turn to rally, Howe connecting for the second time before Jack Shanley found the net with 4:21 left. And that 10-10 tie held up until the end of regulation.
In the OT period, F-M gained possession, and the ball swung to Howe, who fired it past Dan Stehle for the game-winner, negating an effort where Stehle had amassed 18 saves.
That game-winner completed a Howe hat trick as Shanley and Max Cramer both scored twice. Luke Daino and Logan Wilkinson also had goals as Ben Hammond and Jack Van Valkenburgh combined for 14 saves.
Now it was the Hornets visiting West Genesee on Thursday night, the first time in more than four decades it had gone to Camillus without having to face coaching legend Mike Messere.
And in this first encounter since last spring’s Section III Class A final, F-M, aided by patience and a timely adjustment in the face-off circle, pulled out a 7-6 victory over the Wildcats.
Though the Hornets had the ball for a large portion of the first quarter, only Miller scored, and WG’s defense continued to frustrate F-M in a second quarter where neither team found the net.
Trailing 2-1 at the break, F-M placed sophomore Logan Wilkinson at the center X, and he proceeded to win nearly every face-off the rest of the way, giving the Hornets even more time to wear the Wildcats’ back line down.
Goals by Josh Michel and Mike Howe 44 seconds apart early in the third quarter put F-M in the lead, and set up a chase where, three different times, WG would tie it, only to have the Hornets answer.
Zach Nestor’s goal in the waning seconds of the period put F-M in front 4-3 going to the fourth quarter, and Shanley converted with 6:50 left after WG had pulled back even again.
In the last of these instances, the Wildcats’ Anthony Dattellas found the net with 4:18 left, but less than a minute later, Cramer put F-M ahead to stay as Wilkinson won another face-off and the Hornets managed to burn off the last three minutes of the clock.
Saturday brought the rematch between F-M and B’ville at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, and this one was far from close, the Bees getting all kinds of payback and playing close to perfection as it defeated the Hornets 16-5.
Shanley’s goal had tied it, 1-1, when B’ville used a timeout less than four minutes into the game. From there, the Hornets were shut out for more than 31 minutes until Shanley scored again late in the third quarter.
By then, the Bees had pulled far away, Stehle stopping 16 of the 21 shots he faced and B’ville ripping off 12 unanswered goals, the attack led by Wirtheim, who had four goals and four assists, and Mike Tangredi, who also scored four times.
F-M will not have much time to rest this week, either, taking on Syracuse and Liverpool before a Saturday game against Pittsford that is part of a girls/boys doubleheader.
