Those back-to-back defeats the Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse team took at the hands of Fayetteville-Manlius and West Genesee did not sit well.
The aftermath for the Northstars proved that point, starting with a 19-10 romp over Canton on April 25 and continuing two nights later, when C-NS put away Central Square 15-7.
Those wins would mean little, though, if C-NS didn’t step up Thursday night and try to end Auburn’s six-game win streak – which it managed to do, stepping up on the defensive side and riding that effort to a huge 10-6 victory over the Maroons.
That C-NS back line, led by Blake, Jake Erickson and Matt Townsend, consistently put the clamps on Auburn’s attackers throughout the first half, allowing the Northstars to build a 5-2 advantage. Goalie Zach Sheridan was sensational, too, recording 16 saves.
Then, every time the Maroons tried to get close in the last two periods, C-NS had an answer. Zach Waldron produced four goals and one assist, with Nick Riccardi adding three goals and one assist. Drew Flack stepped up, scoring twice, as Brandon O’Brien earned the other goal and Nate Scarlata got an assist.
Only ahead 3-2 through one period, the Northstars gained control by outscoring the Redhawks 6-3 for the rest of the half, and then gradually adding to that lead the rest of the night.
Six different players –Waldron, Nate Scarlata, Zach Debottis, Mike Meneilly, Brad Williams and Brian Rowe – scored twice as part of well-balanced attack where Debottis also earned four assists. Ray Scarlata had one goal and one assist, with Riccardi and O’Brien also earning goals. Blake and Conner Collins notched single assists.
A night later, at Rome Free Academy, C-NS won big again, dismantling the Black Knights 19-6. During the first half, the Northstars’ defense managed to earn a shutout, keeping RFA on the board as the lead grew to 10-0.
Finally, the Black Knights got on the board in the third quarter, but the matter was settled, Debottis and Nate Scarlata each netting four goals as Debottis added five assists and Scarlata two assists.
Ray Scarlata had his own three-goal hat trick, joining Collins on that total. Waldron managed two goals and two assists, with Meneilly and Williams both getting one goal and one assist.
Liverpool, meanwhile, was in some trouble early in last Wednesday’s non-league game against Marcellus, but quickly turned things around and romped past the Mustangs 18-7.
Going into the second quarter, the Warriors trailed 3-1, but in the course of the next two periods Liverpool flattened the Marcellus defense during a 14-4 outburst, its most sustained scoring effort of the entire season.
Kendall Keahey, with five goals and one assist, led a front line where Dom Castiglia netted four goals and three assists, and Dillon Rogers added four goals and two assists. Matt Sala scored twice, adding a pair of assists, while Cabry Hildmann, Anthony Calabrese, Connor Beaty and Liam Chavis earned one goal apiece. Jon Jerman had a pair of assists.
Liverpool made it back-to-back wins on Friday, smashing Central Square 19-4, but most of that came after the Redhawks slowed the game down and kept pace for much of the first half.
Once the Warriors got going, though, it outscored Central Square 8-0 in the third quarter, eventually seeing Sala earn five goals and one assist and Rogers get four goals and one assist. Keahey notched five assists to go with his pair of tallies as Ethan Calderwell also scored twice. Castiglia, Calabrese, Beaty and Chavis had one goal apiece.
Each of Liverpool’s four remaining regular-season games is at home, including Thursday’s clash with C-NS that follows a Tuesday visit from Baldwinsville. The Northstars beat the Warriors in a narrow 10-9 decision back on March 31 at Bragman Stadium.
