Mired at 3-7, finding it difficult to generate any kind of offense, and with its season close to collapse, the Liverpool boys lacrosse team rose again.
And it did so in the most unlikely of settings, dominating large parts of last Wednesday’s game against Class A championship contender Baldwinsville and beating the Bees 13-8.
To say this was an unexpected result was understating the point. Nothing Liverpool had done in recent weeks (it had lost seven of its previous eight games) suggested that it could turn things around.
By contrast, B’ville was 9-2, at no. 17 in the state Class A rankings, and coming off impressive wins over Auburn and Central Square. It had little reason to think that the struggling Warriors would offer a big resistance — and that proved to be a big mistake.
Right from the start, Liverpool controlled the field, grabbing a quick 3-0 lead. And while B’ville closed back within one, 4-3, at the tail end of the first quarter, the Warriors now believed it could pull through.
Picking up its level of play even further, Liverpool outscored B’ville 6-2 in the second quarter, then turned around and blanked B”ville in the third period as the lead grew to 12-5, a complete reversal from what had been expected.
B’ville could not make it all the way back, and the Warriors had its biggest win of the season, and a possible turning point if it all worked out.
A.J. Vittorio and Mitch Long each finished with four goals to lead the Liverpool attack. Matt DiMarco earned two goals and three assists, while Devin Clegg earned a goal and two assists. Tyler Kamide and Derek Thomas also scored, with Tanner Kreutzer joining Kamide in the assist column.
Ryan Duffy made eight saves, getting well-protected by a physical, unyielding defense that kept B’ville star Billy Ward (two goals, two assists) from getting too involved.
This, for Liverpool, turned into the ideal setup for Friday’s game against the Warriors’ other neighborhood rival, Cicero-North Syracuse, at Archie Hall Stadium, the Northstars’ temporary home at North Syracuse Junior High School.
