On Tuesday night, the Marcellus and Westhill boys lacrosse teams will play their most important games of the season – against each other.
The showdown between the no. 4 seed Mustangs and no. 5 seed Warriors in the Section III Class C quarterfinals was made possible by each side comfortably winning their opening-round games on Saturday afternoon.
Marcellus, drawing no. 13 seed and first-time playoff participant, Manlius-Pebble Hill, rolled to a 14-1 victory, while Westhill faced a slightly more difficult assignment, but beat no. 12 seed South Jefferson 13-6.
In the Warriors’ case, things didn’t start well, as it trailed 2-1 before taking over against the Spartans with a 4-0 second-quarter burst. That momentum carried over, too, Westhill gaining a 10-4 margin by the fourth quarter and cruising the rest of the way.
Ryan Zimmerman stepped up with five goals and two assists, with Casey Rogers scoring four times. Richie Easterly fed both of them, earning five assists to go with his lone tally, while Jack Centore had a goal and two assists. Andrew French and Matt McAnaney also scored, with Jack Sweeney recording 12 saves in the net.
As that went on, Marcellus was ending it early against MPH, scoring 10 unanswered goals in the first quarter and slowing down from there, but keeping the Trojans off the board except for John Cerio’s third-quarter goal.
Tim O’Sullivan led the attack, scoring five times, with Matt Hutchings and Ross Filtch getting two goals apiece. Nate Garlow and Kevin Hutchings each had a goal and two assists, while Rich Ghezzi and Andrew Henderson had matching totals of one goal and one assist. Aaron Quisik had the other goal, with Harrison Cox picking up an assist.
Jordan-Elbridge, with the no. 11 seed in the Class C bracket, got off to a fantastic start in its first-round game at no. 6 seed LaFayette, but could not sustain it and saw its season end with a 19-11 defeat to the Lancers.
Goals by Zach Wagner and Sam Robles had the Eagles up early, 2-0. After LaFayette got on the board, Robles scored again, and Dale Wagner scored in the last seconds of the first quarter before Nate Town made it 5-1 early in the second period. Dreams of a J-E upset took hold.
But just as quickly, those dreams dissipated. LaFayette pummeled J-E’s defense the rest of the half, scoring eight unanswered goals before Robles made it 9-6, where it stood at halftime. But the Lancers couldn’t be stopped, as it outscored J-E 8-1 in the third quarter to put things away.
Battling to the final seconds, the Eagles saw Robles and Dale Wagner both finish with three-goal hat tricks, while Zach Wagner scored twice. Town and Logan Schwarting each had one goal and one assist as Dylan Dunham also found the net. Matt Bennett and Nick Gaswaldo led LaFayette with four goals apiece, Bennett adding four assists.
Before all this, Westhill had a golden opportunity in last Tuesday’s game at Christian Brothers Academy, but a tough second half ended that quest as it lost, 15-7, to the Brothers.
For three quarters, neither side could make any kind of headway. Led by Centore and Easterly, each of whom had two goals and one assist, Westhill played CBA on even terms.
But it all turned in the early stages of the fourth quarter, when the Warriors, tied 7-7, saw CBA’s Jack Zerillo score twice in a 25-second span.
From that point on, Westhill’s defense wore down, and the Brothers exploited it, especially Braedon Gait, who poured in seven goals to match the Warriors’ entire output, while Zerillo finished with three goals and three assists.
French, Zimmerman and Rogers earned Westhill’s other goals behind Centore and Easterly, while Sweeney and Nick Keyes combined for 11 saves.
Marcellus lacked a similar test as it closed out the regular season, but at least returned to the win column in an emphatic manner, rolling past Onondaga 17-4.
Only allowing one goal in each period, the Mustangs had an 11-2 edge by halftime and kept going behind a big night from O’Sullivan, who poured in five goals and three assists.
Filtch had two goals and two assists, while Quisik, Kevin Hutchings, Nate Garlow, Joey Kinsella and Aaron Quisik each scored twice. Matt Hutchings and Harrison Cox added single goals.
J-E got overwhelmed last Tuesday night in the first half of a 16-8 defeat to Tully, falling behind 12-1 and then seeing the margin grow to 15-2 before the Black Knights eased up in the fourth quarter.
Robles scored three times as Schwarting added two goals and two assists. Dunham, Dale Wagner and Zach Wagner had one goal apiece.
A day later, J-E met Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes, who lost 16-1 to Skaneateles the night before, and would get right back into the win column, stopping the Gaelic Knights 15-8.
Steadily, the Eagles gained a 9-2 lead by halftime, and didn’t let up as the margin grew to 13-4, with Zach Wagner scoring five times and Robles managing four goals, plus a pair of assists.
Colby Falcone had a three-goal hat trick, with Schwarting and Dunham each putting up a goal and two assists. Nate Town had the other goal and Kyle Humberstone tacked on an assist.
Ludden/Grimes saw Connor Smith amass three goals and three assists, with Doug Myrdek adding a goal and two assists. Joe Spano scored twice as Anthony Talarico and Dominick Delvecchio had the other goals.
