Two of the oldest boys lacrosse programs in Central New York gathered on Saturday when Fayetteville-Manlius took on LaFayette, who had just picked up its 700th win earlier in the week.
The Lancers more than proved its worth by scoring the most goals anyone has against the Hornets this spring, but much of that production came in the late going, and F-M did enough early to hang on and prevail by a 14-11 margin.
This was part of a special day at F-M where all of the boys and girls lacrosse teams worked together for a “Sting Out Cancer” event, raising money for Golisano Children’s Hospital and the “More Than A Game” Foundation.
The boys Hornets wore special black socks for the day, with the F-M girls donning pink socks, and everyone had lavender T-shirts that were sold as part of the fund-raising effort.
As the featured attraction, F-M and LaFayette provided lots of fast-paced entertainment. The Hornets worked its way to a 4-2 first-quarter lead, but the Lancers didn’t go away, matching goals the rest of the half and only trailing 7-5 at the break.
Determined to put the game away and stay undefeated, F-M ran over LaFayette in the third quarter, outscoring them 6-2 to provide a cushion against the Lancers’ late push.
Kevin Lux dished out six assists to go with his pair of goals, often finding Clay Arnold, who scored five times. Jack Wilson chimed in with four goals and three assists, while Dan Cahill, Alex Leuze and Luke Krizman also found the net. Ryan DaRin and Tom LoSecco added assists.
On LaFayette’s side, Matt Bennett managed three goals, while Nate Beresovoy and Eric Liddy each got two goals and three assists. F-M goalie Brian Bedell recorded 10 saves.
Prior to that, the Hornets, who had risen to no. 3 in the latest state Class A rankings, had little trouble keeping itself undefeated, romping past Syracuse East 16-0 and Watertown IHC 18-2.
F-M lit into Syracuse East during a 9-0 first quarter, and then expanded the margin to 14-0 by halftime so that the clock could run and that everyone on the roster could see longer playing stints.
Lux, off a week that included 10 goals against Liverpool and 10 points (six points, four assists) in a win at Auburn, dialed it back here, but still had four goals and two assists as Wilson also managed a three-goal hat trick.
Clay Arnold and Casey Greene both had two goals and one assist, with Dan Wyman also scoring twice. Krizman managed one goal and one assist as Cahill and Leuze also found the net. Kroy Arnold, Jake Pulver, Kevin Chase, Erik Keller and Nick Walsh got assists, too.
What made the IHC game memorable was what Lux accomplished as a career milestone. With three more goals, the senior ran his total to 142, the most in the F-M program’s 50-year history, surpassing the mark that Bruce Yancey set before he graduated in 1982.
As to the game itself, the Hornets jumped all over the Cavaliers and led 8-0 after one period, en route to a 13-2 halftime edge. Clay Arnold scored four times as Wilson managed three goals and three assists and Lux added a pair of assists.
Greene and Keller both had two goals, with Leuze, Walsh, DaRin and Colton Oliver managing one goal apiece. Chase, LoSecco and Kroy Arnold earned one assist apiece.
Now F-M had to navigate its way past Rome Free Academy and Corcoran this week before the much-anticipated May 14 regular-season finale against West Genesee.
