What’s clear is that the East Syracuse-Minoa girls lacrosse team is happy in the direction which it is going, and that Jamesville-DeWitt is far less pleased.

Amid windy and wet conditions last Monday night, the Spartans met the Red Rams, and it would go back and forth the whole way, but ESM would hang on for a 7-6 victory.

Mired in a 1-4 start, J-D worked hard to get out of that slump, playing on even terms with the Spartans during a 4-4 first half as the conditions began to deteriorate.

Neither side would generate much offense during the second half, either, but ESM sneaked out in front and, behind six saves from Courtnee Notaro in the net, would hang on as the defense held J-D’s top scorer, Caroline Kopp, without a goal.

Sam Dooling was the only Spartan to score twice as Hailey DeVona, Morgan Young and Jenna Kenney each had one goal and one assist. Cindy Brownson and Katy Steigerwald had the other goals.

On J-D’s side, Jessica Wipper got two goals, with Julia Slisz picking up two assists. Carly Stone, Lizzie O’Brien, Bess Murad and Grace Hulslander had one goal apiece. Cameron Buck finished with 10 saves.

Two days later, ESM survived another one-goal thriller, this time against Homer, edging the Trojans 8-7 to improve to 6-1 on the season.

The first half was low-scoring, but still proved important as the Spartans inched to a 3-2 halftime lead, and then matched everything Homer threw at them in the late going.

Young scored three times, with Dooling and DeVona each earning two goals and one assist. Steigerwald, with one goal and one assist, and Kate McGarrity, with one assist, helped out and Notaro again was big in the net, earning nines saves. Homer lost despite four goals from Olivia Porter.

As this went on, J-D rebounded to double up Chittenango 14-7, largely based on a first half where it bulldozed the Bears and grabbed a 10-2 edge, allowing it to ease up in the latter stages.

Hulslander led with three goals and two assists. Four other Rams – Stone, Wipper, Kopp and Carly Neugebauer – scored two goals apiece, while Slisz, Alyssa Philips and Haley Ripich got single tallies. Slisz, Neugebauer and Kailen Prosak each had one assist.

Fayetteville-Manlius ran into Section V power Pittsford and lost, 16-5, on Thursday night, the Hornets giving up 11 second-half goals as, in defeat, Carly Primo had two goals and one assist. Olivia Tejan, Allison Macrae and Jamison Seabury had the other goals and Aubrey Deveau, starting in the net, made seven saves.

CBA didn’t return to action until Saturday, and took a while to get into full gear in a 15-5 victory over Homer. The Brothers only led 7-4 at halftime before dominating on the draws in the second half, leading to constant attacks and conversions.

Ten different CBA players scored, led by Emily Ehle, who had four goals and one assist. Rachel Vercillo managed two goals and two assists, with Sam McKenna adding two goals and one assist. Maddie Cook, Katie Anderson, Hannah Werner, Lilly Hunt, Alex Fess, Olivia Penoyer and Hailey Dobbins had one goal apiece.