All four of the area’s boys lacrosse teams found themselves on the field Saturday for the opening round of the Section III Class C playoffs, and two of them would make it out.
Given the no. 2 seed, Westhill found no problems with no. 15 seed Holland Patent, smashing the Golden Knights 23-1 by scoring 12 goals in the first quarter alone and stretching the margin to 19-0 by halftime to advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinal against no. 7 seed Homer.
Ryan Zimmerman amassed four goals and seven assists, with Casey Rogers also scoring four times. Richie Easterly had three goals and five assists as Joe Rainone got his own three-goal hat trick. Matt McAnaney, Andrew French and Hunter Waddington each found the net twice, with Mark Purcell, Chris Marnell and Kyle Rey netting single goals.
Going on the road, no. 9 seed Marcellus met no. 8 seed and, ignoring the Black Knights’ 11-4 regular-season mark, prevailed 15-11, earning a shot at knocking off top seed and defending champion Cazenovia in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
But for no. 11 seed Jordan-Elbridge and no. 13 seed Bishop Ludden, the season would end in the first round, as the Eagles fell to no. 6 seed LaFayette 14-6 and the Gaelic Knights took a 13-4 defeat to no. 4 seed South Jefferson.
J-E got shut out by LaFayette in the first quarter, and though it only fell behind 3-0, it spent the rest of the game in catch-up mode, and was held to two goals in the second half. Sam Robles scored four of the Eagles’ six goals, with Zach Wagner and Lucas Emperado earning the others. Logan Schwarting added two assists as Percy Booth led the Lancers with four goals and three assists.
Westhill routed Ludden 19-1 last Wednesday night. It was 12-1 by halftime, Ryan Zimmerman accumulating four goals and five assists and Casey Rogers score five times, adding an assist.
Easterly, Waddington and Nick French had two goals apiece, with Easterly adding two assists. Marnell picked up one goal and three assists as Rainone, McAnaney and Jake Etoll had the other goals. Connor Smith accounted for the Gaelic Knights’ lone tall.
Ludden beat Onondaga 11-5 the night before falling to Westhill, depending on its defense to shut out the Tigers in the second quarter and not let up until the Gaelic Knights had an 8-1 halftime edge.
Smith scored five times and added an assist. Dominick Delvecchio had two goals and three assists, while Doug Myrdek had two assists. Joe Spano, Anthony Talarico, John Saleski and Mark Shattuck earned one goal apiece as Spano and Phillip Buque notched single assists.
Marcellus had a rough ending to its regular season, first by falling to Fayetteville-Manlius on May 9, and then facing another defending sectional champion, Class B power Jamesville-DeWitt, on Wednesday and taking a 20-8 defeat to the Red Rams.
Steadily, J-D tore up the Mustangs’ defense, grabbing a 19-7 edge by the end of the third quarter and seeing Ryan Archer score seven goals. Grayson Burns added five goals and two assists.
On the Marcellus side, Mike McNaney had a strong showing, getting a three-goal hat trick plus a pair of assists. Matt Hutchings added two goals and one assist as Shane Rohe and Harrison Cox got one goal apiece.
J-E had the misfortune of running into Cazenovia the day after the Lakers lost a last-second 12-11 decision to Fayetteville-Manlius, and felt the brunt of the Lakers’ anger in a 10-3 defeat.
It was 2-2 through one quarter, but Cazenovia, led by Jake Lewis and Jake Stowell (three goals apiece), went on a 7-0 second-quarter spurt. Nate Town scored two of J-E’s three goals, with Sam Robles earning the other. Wagner and Hunter Brunell had one assist apiece.
