Even as the temperatures warmed up, the West Genesee boys lacrosse team did not sweat too much as it built toward a possible 10th consecutive Section III Class A championship.
In the opening round of the eight-team tournament Tuesday night in Camillus, the top-seeded Wildcats met up with no. 8 seed Cicero-North Syracuse and were in top form throughout a 19-2 dismantling of the Northstars.
CNS had lost to WG 10-2 back on May 6. What made things more difficult for the visitors this time was that the Wildcats had endured a week of had work to atone for dropping its regular-season finale to Fayetteville-Manilus in overtime on May 17 after it held a two-goal lead in the fourth quarter.
No such worries were found here, though. With Matt Schattner and Ted Glesener dominating the face-offs, WG held the ball most of the first quarter and built a 7-1 lead. To make it more emphatic, the Wildcats blanked CNS in the second period and nearly doubled its total, leading 13-1 at the break.
Corey Herrington served as the anchor, gaining six assists to go with his three goals. Dylan Donahue and Cody Hoose both found the net four times, with Donahue adding three assists.
Connor Khammar and Brandon Dzwonkowski earned two goals apiece as Glesener, Schattener, Mike Stolanoff and Brett Henderson also scored. Pat Brown, aside from his duties anchoring WG’s stifling defense, managed two assists as Tim Barber and Alex Johnson earned assists, too.
The semifinal on Thursday night at CNS’s Bragman Stadium would pit WG against no. 5 seed Baldwinsville, who had a mighty struggle through most of the regular season, but finished strong and upset no. 4 seed Corcoran 13-12 to get this far.
As the Wildcats moved on, Westhill’s run in Class C ended in the quarterfinals as the no. 7 seed Warriors fell to no. 2 seed and defending champion Skaneateles in a 15-3 decision.
Just a week earlier, Westhill had met the Lakers and had stayed close throughout an 11-7 defeat, so it had some confidence. Unfortunately, Skaneateles remembered how tight it was, too, and resolved not to let that happen again.
The Warriors scored first, 3:28 into the game – and did not find the net again the rest of the half. Skaneateles put together eight unanswered goals and, with its defense, thwarted every Westhill attempt to answer.
Richie Easterly, Justin Selbach and Owen Nicola earned Westhill’s goals, with Connor Byrne earning two assists. Kevin Rice led Sknaeateles with two goals and five assists. The Warirors’ season finished with a record of 8-10.
