Though the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team thought it had survived its tough early schedule, but the results of last week’s action indicated otherwise.
The Hornets got a small breather last Tuesday with a 21-4 romp over Central Square. Steadily, the Hornets built a 16-3 lead through three quarters, led by Donovan Welsh, who set career marks with five goals and three assists, and Tyler Papa, who had two goals and four assists.
Dylan Taylor-Wolford, Erik Badger and James Rettinger also scored twice, with single goals going to a big group that included Dan Burnam, Ryan Cheetsheet, Griffin Cicci, Luke Hamel, Mac Fish, Ryan Miller and Jason Buck. Chris Rettinger contributed an assist.
Then F-M hit the road, going to Auburn on Thursday night. All looked good for a while, but the defense got torn apart in the latter stages and the Maroons prevailed 13-10, avenging a 14-13 defeat to the Hornets back on March 31.
A wild first quarter saw F-M get out in front, 6-4, and the margin kept growing until, early in the third quarter, the Hornets held an 8-3 lead. But Auburn erased all of it by the opening seconds of the final period, when Kaiden Tubbert’s goal tied it 9-9.
They were even again, 10-10, when Maroons sophomore Alex Burgmaster, on a strong move to the net, faked out the defense and ripped home the go-ahead goal. Try as it could, F-M could not respond, Auburn tacking on two more goals in the final minute.
Taylor-Wolford led the Hornets, scoring three times. Badger and Papa each had two goals and one assist, with Welsh, Hamel and Cicci adding one goal apiece. Jack Burgmaster, with three goals, and Danny Entenmann, with a goal and three assists, led the Maroons’ rally.
Another road game loomed Saturday, at Skaneateles, where the Hornets looked for the same success that CBA had earlier in the week, but could not get it, falling 12-9 to the Lakers.
Duggan got the Lakers going, earning the game’s first goal and, after F-M took a 3-1 lead, striking twice more to have a first-quarter hat trick before Dunn gave Skaneateles a 4-3 lead.
For the rest of the half, Skaneateles was contained, but the Hornets couldn’t take full advantage, only managing a 5-5 tie at the break.
Lakers forward Alex Dunn then took the game over. During a third-quarter tour de force, Dunn hit on four consecutive goals to give him six of night, all of which were needed to help the Lakers seize a 9-6 lead, but it still wasn’t over.
Other than a goal from Owen Kuhns, Skaneateles was kept quiet for much of the fourth quarter, and F-M pulled within one, 10-9. But the Lakers’ defense made several big stops down the stretch, Kyle Oschner working his total to seven saves (three less than Brian Charlamb), and Dunn earned a seventh goal, to go with Kuhns’ second (he also had four assists), to clinch it.
Taylor-Wolford, Badger and Hamel each finished with two goals, while Papa had a goal and three assists. Cicci had one goal and one assist and Welsh also found the net, with Jack Kinsella managing an assist.
That loss pushed F-M’s mark to 3-5, and it faced another red-hot team, Cicero-North Syracuse (who had won seven straight), Tuesday night before going to Liverpool on Friday and meeting LaFayette in a non-league game on Saturday.
