Mired at 1-5 when last week’s play got underway, the East Syracuse-Minoa boys lacrosse team rescued a season spinning out of its control with a pair of dramatic victories.
It all started when ESM, starting at yet another defeat against New Hartford last Tuesday night, made a stirring fourth-quarter comeback and dragged it to double overtime before prevailing 13-12 in this latest clash of Spartan teams.
ESM nearly won it in regulation, thanks to scoring five unanswered goals to erase an 11-7 deficit, capped by Andrew Rosso finding the net with 3:23 left in regulation.
Somehow, New Hartford recovered from all this and pulled even, 12-12, when Dempsey King flung it into the net with 26 seconds to play. It stayed even through one scoreless overtime period, but 44 seconds into the second OT, Rosso returned and put home the game-winner.
New Hartford had jumped out to a 4-1 first-quarter lead, had maintained that margin the rest of the half, and kept answering ESM’s charges en route to that 12-8 advantage.
A quintet of players led the rally, including Rosso, who finished with three goals and two assists. Tom VanDeusen and Kollin Diedrickson both matched Rosso’s three-goal output, adding single assists. Corey Haynes and Joe Rosachi each scored twice, with Haynes and Jarrett Temple both getting two assists.
The Spartans then lost Thursday to Cortland, 12-7, a game that was close at halftime before the Purple Tigers, up 7-5, blanked ESM 4-0 in that frame, led by Andrew Potter, who nearly matched the visitors by himself by scoring six times.
Haynes led ESM with two goals and one assist. Rosso also scored twice, with Van Deusen and Diedrickson each getting one goal and one assist as Nolan Garris had the other goal. Alec Miller finished with nine saves.
But the Spartans would recover from this in Saturday’s non-league game against Class A contender Corcoran, again going to the wire – and again pulling it out, this time with a goal late in regulation to beat the Cougars 8-7.
Corcoran, who had just beaten Cicero-North Syracuse two nights earlier, could not get away from ESM in a game that was tightly fought throughout. The Spartans led, 5-4, at halftime, and though the Cougars would come back, the game was still tied, 7-7, as time wound down late in the fourth quarter.
Rosso, again playing a pivotal role in the latter stages, saw Rosachi flash open, passed to him – and Rosachi delivered the go-ahead goal with 2:06 left. Corcoran would try to answer and force overtime, but the Spartans’ defenders turned them away.
That assist was Rosso’s second of the day, to go with a pair of goals. Garris and Haynes matched each other with two goals and one assist, while Diedrickson also got a goal. Each of Miller’s nine saves proved important as Sean Eccles led Corcoran with two goals and three assists.
ESM would play three more times this week, including a rematch with Jamesville-DeWitt (whom it lost to, 21-3, on April 8) before hosting Fulton on Thursday and going to Clinton on Saturday afternoon.
