Competition at the top of the OHSL Liberty division in boys lacrosse is bound to be fierce, as Marcellus quickly found out.

Fresh off its tough season-opening win over Auburn on March 29, the Mustangs hosted LaFayette last Tuesday afternoon, and it proved a close, tense contest, but Marcellus fell to the Lancers 11-9.

The whole game went back and forth. Marcellus and LaFayette traded runs until the Lancers notched five goals in the third quarter to take the lead for good.

On the Mustangs’ side, Kevin Hutchings and Harrison Cox both managed to score three times, but the rest of the team struggled to find much offense as Ross Filtch and Rich Ghezzi were held to one goal apiece. Jake Lilly, in goal, recorded 12 saves.

LaFayette, who had beaten Cortland in overtime in its March 30 opener, was led by Matt Bennett and Eric Liddy, each of whom had two goals and three assists, and Nick Geswaldo, who had three goals and one assist. Devon Buckshot added two goals plus a series of face-off wins that helped the Lancers maintain possession for long stretches of the second half.

Westhill would play LaFayette in its first big game of the season on Tuesday night. Before that, though, it romped through last Wednesday’s game with Clinton, handling those other Warriors by a 20-3 margin. An 8-0 first-quarter spurt set the tone, Westhill camping out in Clinton’s end throughout the early stages and not letting up until it had a 15-1 halftime edge.

Andrew French and Casey Rogers each got three goals, with Ryan Zimmerman adding two goals and two assists. Dan Hodgens also scored twice as Jack Centore got a goal and three assists. Kyle Magdzuik, Matt McAnaney and Mark Purcell all finished with one goal and one assist. Joe Rainone earned the other goal.

Against Fulton on Saturday, the Warriors mostly leaned on its defense and prevailed again, taking out the Red Raiders 8-2 by not allowing a goal after the first period and scoring twice in each of the periods, which proved enough.

Easterly and Zimmerman both finished with two goals and one assist. Centore also found the net twice as Mark Purcell had a pair of assists. French got one goal and one assist and Rogers picked up the other goal.

Later that night, Marcellus went to face yet another Warrior team, from Liverpool, and moved to 2-1 on the season, prevailing 13-8.

In large part, the Mustangs won this game in the first quarter, blanking the Warriors 4-0, and then steadily adding to that margin until it was 11-4 going to the fourth quarter, out of Liverpool’s reach.

Matt Hutchings scored five times, adding an assist. Kevin Hutchings got two goals and two assists, with Filtch, Cox and Mike McNaney also scoring twice, Filtch and McNaney adding assists. Lilly had a strong game in the net, too, finishing with 14 saves.

The combined Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes team got off to a rough start last Tuesday afternoon as Christian Brothers Academy rolled past them 22-5.

At 0-2 following early defeats to Cazenovia and Don Bosco Prep (N.J.), the Brothers were itching to get a win and showed little mercy, seeing Andrew Romagnoli get four goals and four assists as Jack Zerillo and Braedon Gait each had their own four-goal outings.

Mark Shattuck scored three of Ludden/Grimes’ five goals, while Connor Smith had a goal and two assists. Doug Myrdek had the other goal.

Then Ludden/Grimes ran into Jordan-Elbridge on Friday night, and the Eagles, in its season opener, took charge in the middle stages to earn an 11-3 victory.

It was a 1-0 game when, starting in the second quarter, J-E won a series of face-offs and, with patience, found the net, outscoring Ludden/Grimes 8-1 in those middle two periods.

Sam Robles led the Eagles, earning four goals. Dylan Dunham and Zach Wagner each managed three-goal hat tricks, while Nate Town also scored. Logan Schwarting earned a pair of assists, with Colin Bard and Coby Falcone getting one assist apiece.

But a day later, Ludden/Grimes reached the win column, defeating Manlius-Pebble Hill 11-6 in a game that was tight and low-scoring until the fourth quarter, when Ludden/Grimes, trailing most of the way, erased that 5-4 deficit with a seven-goal flurry.

Connor Smith led the rally, pouring in three goals and adding four assists. Often, Smith’s passes went to Mark Shattuck, who scored four times, and Joe Spano, who had three goals. Doug Myrdek had the other goal as Dominick DelVecchio and Anthony Talarico managed assists. Phil Do, playing in goal, earned eight saves.