Not that there was too much suspense about it, but the Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse team officially sealed its Section III Class A playoff berth Tuesday night with a 12-6 victory over Auburn at Holland Stadium.
What was a 3-3 game after one period changed as, for the rest of the half, the Northstars gained a majority of the face-offs, attacked hard and produced a 6-1 spurt, which accounted for most of the eventual winning margin.
C-NS had a well-balanced attack, led by Scott Slater’s two goals and two assists. Mike Fiorini and Tyler Heldt also scored twice, with Dylan Collins adding a goal and two assists. Zach Debottis and Tyler Griffo both had one goal and one assist as Matt O’Donnell, Eric Sauer, Zach Waldron and Joe Planeta took turns finding the net.
Then the Northstars visited Fayetteville-Manlius on Thursday, and to say that C-NS’s timing was a bit off might have understated the point of its 17-2 loss to the Hornets.
F-M was in a foul mood after squandering a three-goal lead and losing to West Genesee 9-7 two nights earlier. And the Hornets took out that anger on C-NS, overwhelming the visitors in a 13-0 first-half blitz.
Collins and Fiorni would get second-half goals to break up the shutout, but F-M had far too much as Kevin Lux led the hosts with five goals and one assist.
To start its week, Cicero-North Syracuse’s girls team hosted Fayetteville-Manlius at Bragman Stadium, falling to the battle-tested Hornets 11-8.
For a half, the Northstars handled things and led, 5-4. Yet that slim margin did not hold up as F-M, led by Marri Ryu (four goals) and Alex Murphy (two goals, two assists), took over in the latter stages and also improved on the defensive side.
Tiffany Ryan and Sarah Bowles both had two goals for the home side. Single goals went to Kristi Thompson, Stephanie Liberati, Jill Goettel and Meghan Duffy, with Duffy adding an assist.
On Thursday, C-NS would beat the combined Syracuse city entry 16-11, doing most of its damage in a 10-4 sprint through the first half.
Hamilton and Ryan accounted for half the offense, each of them scoring four times as Hamilton added four assists and Ryan got two assists. Duffy, with three goals and one assist, was close behind, while Sarah Runfola had two goals and one assist. Hanna Haven, Emily Barron and Megan Caveny also scored. Syracuse’s Claire Wigler matched Hamliton and Ryan with four goals of her own.
The C-NS girls would meet main rival Liverpool before facing Auburn on Thursday. The boys Northstars face Central Square and Utica Proctor in the last full week of the regular season.
