Jay Graham did not like the fact that his Liverpool boys lacrosse team had surrendered a third-quarter lead to Baldwinsville last Friday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium — and let his team know about it.
Sufficiently humbled, the Warriors responded with, arguably, its best stretch of play in the entire season, which proved to be the difference in a 13-7 victory over the Bees.
Back in April, Liverpool had beaten B’ville at home, 10-6, and for a while, the rematch was going in the same general direction.
From a 2-2 tie early in the second quarter, Liverpool had surged in front on goals by Derek Thomas, Matt Savlov and Tyler Kamide. By the late stages of the third quarter, the Warriors still had a 6-4 lead.
Then it threatened to come apart. Within a span of nine seconds, Kyle Styer and Tim Hayden scored to push B’ville into a 6-6 tie, and when A.J. Wood converted with 25 seconds left in the period, Liverpool was down 7-6, and Graham was steaming.
The harsh pep talk that followed paid immediate rewards when Kamide scored 39 seconds into the fourth quarter to tie it, 7-7, but that was just the start of the onslaught.
Before B’ville could regroup with a time-out, Kamide, Matt DiMarco and Mitch Long put together three goals in a span of just 28 seconds. And it didn’t stop there, as Long and Thomas both converted again — in all, six goals in 2:09 that gave Liverpool a 12-7 lead.
Not only that, but the Warriors’ defense, led by Jake Gyder, Pat Brosnan and Nick Peryea, did a remarkable job in holding the Bees’ top two offensive players, Billy Ward and Evan States, without a point for the entire game. Ryan Duffy only had to make seven saves.
Long, Kamide and Thomas matched each other with three-goal hat tricks as DiMarco added two goals and three assists. Savlov also scored twice, with Mike Mahardy also scoring. Devin Clegg and Tanner Kreuzer earned assists.
Still, while the Warriors have climbed far up the Class A ladder, the top steps remain out of reach.
The Warriors learned this during last Wednesday night’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius, where it struggled through much of a 15-9 loss to the Warriors.
Liverpool paid a steep price for a slow start. Before it even got on the board, F-M had already bolted well out in front, blanking the Warriors in a 5-0 first quarter.
Gradually, the Warriors would start to produce, but F-M, led by Ari Waffle (five goals, two assists) and Matt Taylor (five goals, one assist), stayed well out in front, only letting up in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Warriors worked hard to the end. Long had three goals, while Thomas produced two goals and two assists. Clegg found the net twice. Kamide had a goal and three assists, while Kreuzer also scored. Brad Capone added an assist.
Fortunately, for Liverpool (8-3), a chance at revenge against F-M comes on Tuesday afternoon, at home, at the start of a high-profile week. That includes a Thursday meeting with rival Cicero-North Syracuse and a Saturday trip to West Genesee, where legendary head coach Mike Messere could be going for his 700th career win.
