Carrying the usual amount of maximum expectations, accompanied by maximum effort, the West Genesee boys lacrosse team are on the field again. Coach Mike Messere’s Wildcats are out to win a 10th consecutive Section III Class A title – but for its opening test Wednesday night, it hosted Class B power Carthage and used a familiar formula to turn away the Comets in an 8-5 decision. Many familiar faces are back for WG – 25 players, to be exact, from the 2010 roster. Yet the Wildcats still had to watch a pair of All-Americans, midfielder John Glesener and defender Joe Fletcher, depart, which had various effects. Without Glesener, various players must assume playmaking duties – and against Carthage, that effort proved uneven, with a fair amount of wild passes and other mistakes that led to turnovers. At least WG had time to work through those errors, though, because its defense remained first-rate. In particular, veterans Pat Brown and John Sabert stood out. Brown smothered Carthage’s top player, Tom Grimm, holding him to one assist, and Sabert did a similarly strong job tailing Nick Pirolli and holding him in check. Goalie Tim Birchler had a solid effort in the net, too, recording 11 saves. Only once was the game tied, at 1-1 in the first quarter. And after Hunter Craig converted, Air Force Academy-bound Dylan DonahueDylan Donahue answered 15 seconds later, giving WG the lead for good. Donahue also finished with three goals. Tim Barber and Jim Cordon’s goals increased the margin to 4-1 in the second quarter. Craig got his second and third goals to cut the margin to 4-3 by halftime, but the Comets never got as close again after a third-quarter shutout. Senior Cody Hoose had both of WG’s goals in that period, and Donahue and Connor Khammar converted in the fourth quarter. This begins a tough opening stretch for the Wildcats, who host Corcoran (an 18-4 winner over Union-Endicott in its opener) Friday in their first encounter since last year’s sectional final, then face Baldwinsville and Liverpool next week.