Through three contests last week, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team clearly established itself as the main challenger to West Genesee’s Section III Class A throne.
What the Hornets also showed was that, with everyone in place, its attack could be much more difficult to contain.
This especially proved true Friday night, at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, where the Hornets took charge in the third quarter and earned a 15-10 victory over the Bees.
Both teams came in with 3-1 marks, and for two periods, they played to a standoff. B’ville scored twice in the game’s first three minutes, only to have F-M get three goals in a three-minute span to seize its own 3-2 lead.
So it went through the entire first half. F-M briefly had a 5-3 edge, but B’ville scored twice to tie it. Late in the second quarter, the Bees went up 6-5, but Blair Hanson’s answering goal just 39 seconds later made it 6-6, a mark that stood until halftime.
Hanson, who had missed F-M’s 8-5 loss to West Genesee on April 4, had returned to the lineup earlier in the week, a strong attacker with a knack for finishing off scoring plays that took big-time pressure off teammates like Matt Taylor, Anthony Krizman and Mike Poppleton.
Together, this quartet proved lethal when B’ville committed a series of penalties early in the third quarter. F-M went ahead for good when Poppleton, Taylor and Hanson scored within a span of 36 seconds to make it 9-6.
And it didn’t stop there, as the Hornets eventually outscored B’ville 8-1 in that frame. The sudden 14-7 margin proved impossible for the Bees to overcome, even if F-M got a bit sloppy down the stretch.
Taylor and Hanson both finished with four goals, as Taylor added three assists. Krizman issued his own three-goal hat trick, as Poppleton joined Matt Fallico, Mike O’Neil and Will Reznikov in the single-goal column. Chris Miles had 16 saves against a Bees attack where Billy Ward (three goals, two assists) led the way.
Two nights earlier, in F-M’s home opener,Cicero-North Syracuse served as the visiting side and bottled up the Hornets for a while, but it all turned in the second quarter, leading to F-M beating the Northstars 9-5.
Through one period, the Hornets trailed, 1-0, unable to establish much of an attack as CNS tried — and succeeded — to slow things down.
Once Poppleton started winning face-offs, though, F-M began to click. It blanked the Northstars in the second period and built a 4-1 advantage as they went to the break.
As the second half wore on, every CNS thrust was offset by F-M converting on the other end, which allowed the Hornets to break the Northstars’ three-game win streak.
Hanson made an immediate impact in his first appearance of the season with a three-goal hat trick, adding an assist.
Justin DePalma was close behind, with two goals and one assist, as Taylor added a goal and two assists. Krizman, Todd Webster and Fallico also scored. Miles had a strong game in the net, recording 13 saves.
Anyone that was in the way of the Hornets after its frustrating April 4 loss at West Genesee was going to pay a heavy price.
It turned out that Liverpool was in the way. So F-M went there last Monday afternoon and tore up the Warriors on its way to a 17-7 victory.
F-M tore out of the gate, jumping to a 5-0 lead before the first quarter was done. From there, the margin simply grew, to 11-1 by the end of the third period, and F-M only let up when the reserves were on the field in the late going.
DePalma, with three goals and one assist, led a deep and balanced attack where Taylor and Krizman both had two goals and two assists.
O’Neil and Poppleton also had two-goal outings, while Webster, Jim Dittmar, Troy Arthur and Charlie Giancola earned single goals. Matt Fallico and Jim Barger joined Poppleton with one assist apiece.
By the time F-M is done playing against Utica Proctor, Oswego and Auburn this week, it will have played seven games in 15 days, nearly half its regular-season slate.
