Defeats to Fayetteville-Manlius (lopsided) and Marcellus (a blown fourth-quarter lead) had the Liverpool boys lacrosse team in some trouble as April drew to a close.
Another loss, to Corcoran last Tuesday night, may have demoralized the Warriors, and it trailed in the fourth quarter – but this time it was Liverpool staging the comeback and pulling out a dramatic 9-8 victory.
Having already made it back from a 7-5 deficit to pull even, 8-8, in the closing minutes, Liverpool worked the ball around in the closing stages of regulation. With four seconds left, Peter Flood ripped a shot past Corcoran goalie Noah Galvin, which proved the game-winner.
None of the trouble seemed apparent in the first half. The Warriors knew that the Cougars would try and slow things down, and it backfired as Liverpool, mostly on the basis of a strong second quarter, gained a 4-1 halftime edge.
Something changed in the third quarter, though, as Corcoran, forced to speed things up, did so and zoomed past Liverpool’s zone defense to go on a 6-1 run and take a 7-5 lead. Alex Waelder and Alex Monaghan each had three goals and one assist as part of the comeback.
Yet it was the Warriors making the last push, backed up by goalie Dominick Madonna and his 15 saves, one more than Galvin, which proved important.
Other than Flood, only Harry Sardella scored twice, with Kendall Keahey managing a goal and two assists. Anthony Calabrese, Jamie Kuppel, Matt Sala and Dom Castiglia also scored, Justin Renk contributing an assist.
It was far easier, and far less stressful, on Friday as Liverpool, with an eye toward Tuesday’s big trip to West Genesee, routed Syracuse East 14-2, roaring out to a 13-0 lead by the end of the third quarter and only surrendering a pair of meaningless fourth-quarter tallies.
Keahey had the biggest night of his varsity career, amassing four goals and five assists, his passes often going to Kuppel, who scored five times to set his own season mark. Flood had two goals and two assists as Sardella got a goal and assist. Renk and Castiglia had the other goals.
Cicero-North Syracuse’s late-season struggles continued last Tuesday with a 12-4 defeat to Baldwinsville at Bragman Stadium.
What made it more frustrating was the fact that the Northstars led 2-0 after one quarter. After that, though, C-NS went cold, and the Bees took full advantage, roaring ahead 4-2 by halftime and using a 6-1 third-quarter push to put it away.
Tyler Heldt, Tyler Griffo, Zach Debottis and Erik Sauer each had one goal, with Tom Koster contributing an assist. Bryan Schenk recorded 13 saves in the net. B’ville had eight different players score, with Cody Luke and Austin McAskill managing three-goal hat tricks.
Two nights later, though, it was the Northstars excelling on the defensive end, shutting down Oswego in an 8-1 victory. Other than Ryan Martin’s second-quarter goal, the Buccaneers could not get anything against a fired-up C-NS defense, anchored by Schenk, who stopped nine of 10 shots he faced.
And even that single Oswego goal came amid a late-half spurt where the Northstars gained a 5-1 edge at the break. C-NS pulled away behind Sauer’s three goals and two assists, with Heldt, Griffo and Brandon Townsend each getting one goal and one assist. Debottis and Koster also found the net.
