It’s the recent nature of Christian Brothers Academy’s boys lacrosse team to do something special (like beat Westhill and Homer in consecutive overtime games) and then trip up, as it did with a subsequent defeat to LaFayette on May 2.
All of this added intrigue to the Lakers’ visit to Cazenovia last Thursday night, but despite a tremendous start, the Brothers could not sustain it, taking a 12-7 defeat to the Lakers.
Cazenovia had beaten CBA 11-7 at Alibrandi Stadium on April 21 at the outset of a stretch where it went 8-0 in a 14-day span. Now Cazenovia was well-rested, while the Brothers had played two days before, ripping Jordan-Elbridge 17-3 to bounce back from the LaFayette loss.
Focusing on face-offs, CBA dominated them in the first quarter and possessed the ball for long stretches, turning around the 6-0 deficit of that first meeting by leading 4-2 after one period. Even as the pace picked up, the Brothers hung in there, and led 6-5 going into halftime.
But once Cazenovia put its long-stick midfielder, T.J. Connellan, on face-offs, the game turned. Connellan kept giving the Lakers chances, and Cazenovia kept converting, while its zone defense frustrated the Brothers and held them to just one goal in the last two periods.
Before they went quiet, Zach Taylor and Lincoln McGarrity each scored twice, while Jack Jeschke, Sam Martin and Ben McCreary earned single goals. Jace Whelan had two assists Alex Calkins added an assist, and Matt Vavonese recorded 10 saves. P.J. Brown (three goals, one assists) and Derek White (two goals, two assists) led a well-balanced Cazenovia attack.
Against Jordan-Elbridge, CBA remembered that, at home on April 17, it was tied with J-E, 7-7, going to the fourth quarter before the Brothers pulled it out 11-7.
Determined not to make it so interesting this time around, CBA pulled away in the game’s middle stages, outscoring the Eagles 12-1 in the second and third quarters, led by Alex Calkins, who had six goals and one assist, and Augustus Bonacci, who scored four times.
After the loss to Cazenovia, CBA went to Buffalo Saturday to face St. Joseph’s, earning a 15-10 victory by bolting out to an 11-5 halftime lead. Taylor had a career-best six goals, with Calkins adding four goals and two assists. Jeschke and McCreary both scored twice and combined for seven assists.
Taylor had two goals as Martin and Whelan each got a goal and two assists. Jeschke and Dan Nerenhausen also found the net. Between them, Vavonese and Andrew Koscs stopped nine of the 12 shots they faced.
Jamesville-DeWitt, sitting at no. 2 in the state Class B rankings, cruised through its last full week of the regular season, starting with last Tuesday’s 16-0 rout over Oswego.
Grayson Burns and Ryan Archer each had three goals and combined for seven assists, feeding it to, among others, Matt Murad, Alex Dieroff and Anthony DiGiovanni, who had two goals apiece. Griffin Cook got a goal and three assists. Casey Platenik, Andrew Barkley and Tyler McKee also scored.
A 20-5 win over Fulton followed on Thursday, which included 15 different goal-scorers, though Archer still led the way, finding the net four times and contributing a pair of assists.
Burns and Ben Wipper each scored twice, with Burns adding two assists. Murad and Platenik both managed a goal and two assists. Even Joe Morgan, who split time in the net with Nick Palin, earned a goal as DiGiovanni, Cook, Ryan Durkin, Jacob Eich, Alex Dieroff, Austin Dieroff, Lucas Relkin and Michael Swan took turns earning single tallies.
That same night, East Syracuse Minoa took its turn with Oswego, winning 20-6 thanks to an attack that put up five goals in each of the four periods, Jeremy Perry setting the pace as he scored five times and added three assists.
Jeff Toole, Kollin Diedrickson and Derrek Madonna put up three goals apiece, helped by Luke Rosaschi, who had two goals and two assists. Fred Johnson had a goal and two assists, while Tyler Ott, Josh Sauve and Nate Sturick each had one goal and one assist. Joe Rosaschi and Michael Macri picked up single assists.
