Through the years, the West Genesee and Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team has staged a long list of legendary battles, from the early days of the high school game in this area to last year’s epochal Section III Class A final.
What occurred last Tuesday night did not fit into that category.
At Coyne Field, a place where so many of those great battles took place in the past, the Wildcats gradually took charge and left little question as to who has the better team in 2007, crushing the Hornets 14-3.
This was the only regular-season meeting between WG and F-M, and their first encounter since that 2006 sectional final where the Wildcats rallied in the last minutes of regulation to deny the Hornets its first championship since 1993.
Nearly 12 months later, the feeling is entirely different. F-M is still in the learning process, something WG passed a while ago.
And the lesson on this night was a harsh one. It all turned in the second quarter, when WG, up 2-1, reeled off four unanswered goals to pull clear of F-M.
Much centered on the defense, as Jered Casey, Chris Aubertine and Shane Crossett anchored a back line that frustrated F-M at every turn. John Galloway was again close to perfect in the net, too, as he recorded 13 saves.
Displaying a deep and diverse attack, WG had nine different players score, as five of them — Aaron Printup, Mike Fetterly, Luke Cometti, Adam Mazzoni and Ryan Barber — netted two goals apiece.
Collin Donahue backed up his goal with a pair of assists, as Joe Pompo, Tim Desko and Tim Besio also took turns scoring and all of them, save for Besio, earned assists, too. WG plays at Liverpool Thursday night.
