Once it got past an early-week scare, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team settled back into a comfortable winning groove.
The Hornets got a serious test at Oswego last Tuesday night, but overcame its own struggles to finish strong and beat the Buccaneers 8-5.
Having started the season at 4-1 (this after going 8-9 a season ago), Oswego wanted to show that it wasn’t a fluke, and knew that it couldn’t match firepower with F-M’s potent attack.
As such, whenever the Bucs had the ball, it slowed things down. Also, on defense it stayed in a zone, giving the Hornets room to pass it around the perimeter, but not get it inside.
For three periods, this worked, as F-M, leading 4-3 at halftime, saw Oswego rally to tie it, 5-5. However, in the final period the Hornets stayed patient and put in three unanswered goals to pull the game out.
Kevin Lux led the way, his four goals accounting for half of the Hornets’ production as Lux added an assist. Jimmy Krizman, Derek Andrake, Clay Arnold and Dan Cahill also scored, with Arnold and David Ondrich gaining assists. Matt Wells was strong in the net, turning away 12 of the Bucs’ 17 shots.
It was less daunting on Thursday, when F-M came back home and handled Corcoran 16-2. The once-powerful Cougars had no answers as the Hornets roared to a 7-0 first-quarter lead, expanded the margin to 10-0 by halftime and cruised the rest of the way.
Eleven different players scored, none more than twice. Arnold, with two goals and two assists, led the balanced attack as Simmons, Andrake, Cahill and Tom Losecco also managed two-goal outings. Lux, Ondrich, Krizman, Sawyer Dew, Erik Keller and David Hajduk also converted.
In Saturday’s non-league game against East Syracuse-Minoa, the Hornets did not let up one bit for its neighbors, taking over in the second quarter en route to a 20-5 win over the Spartans.
It was 3-2 through one period, but those early struggles only seemed to wake up F-M as it tore through the rest of the half on a 9-1 spurt. Then the Hornets closed on a 5-0 run.
Lux, with four goals and one assist, and Simmons, with three goals and two assists, benefited from the passes of Arnold, who notched five assists. Andrake and Hajduk each scored twice, with Krizman, Cahill, Dew, Ondrich, DeSantis, Keller, Scott Chase and Ryan DaRin also converting.
Five different players – Bobby Campese, Dan MacDougall, Nick Capriotti, Connor McEachron and Jarrett Temple – had the five ESM goals. Goalies Alec Miller and D.J. MacCombie combined to make 10 saves.
Road games against Syracuse East and Baldwinsville remained before the Hornets (7-1) could hone in on the May 1 home showdown with West Genesee.
