While it’s nice that the West Genesee boys lacrosse team reinforced local supremacy with its April 11 shutdown of Fayetteville-Manlius, the game that followed sent out mixed signals.
This was especially the case with Tuesday’s 15-10 win at Liverpool, as Jordan Rogers reestablished his imposing presence on the offensive side — but the vaunted Wildcat defense had a rare struggle.
Never trailing, WG only faced real danger when Matt DiMarco’s goal early in the second quarter cut the lead to 3-2. From there, the Wildcats reeled off four goals in less than three minutes’ time, building a 7-2 margin that remained fairly stable the rest of the way.
Rogers, healing from an ankle injury that kept him out early this season, made a difference as he pounded home six goals, adding an assist.
Matt McCabe, with three assists, and Ike Hopper, with four assists, often supplied the help as John Glesener and Jim Marks joined McCabe with two goals apiece. Hopper, Ryan McConnell and Dylan Donahue each had one goal.
As WG’s attack improved, the defense proved shaky as Liverpool consistently converted its scoring opportunities to keep the game close, even though it never got closer than a 7-4 halftime margin. Derek Thomas and Tanner Kreuzer led the Warriors with three goals apiece as DiMarco scored twice.
No doubt, the Wildcats want to show better resistance Saturday against Baldwinsville and its highly-touted junior attacker, Billy Ward.