The Marcellus boys lacrosse team was not finding much rest, but was finding more success.
With a chance to prove that it had turned its season around, got the week off on the right note, with a solid all-around effort in last Monday’s 13-8 victory over East Syracuse Minoa.
Having routed Albany Academy two days earlier, the Mustangs climbed above the .500 mark by outscoring the Spartans in each of the first three periods, steadily building a 6-3 halftime margin and getting an 11-5 edge before a futile late ESM rally.
Ross Filtch and Matt Hutchings carried the Marcellus each attack, each of them finding the net four times as Hutchings added three assists. Shane Rohe had two goals and one assist as Tim O’Sullivan got one goal and one assist. Sam Rice had the other goal, Rob Lobello contributed an assist and Dan Cusick recorded 11 saves.
Looking for its third win in a row Wednesday night, at Liverpool, Marcellus again stumbled, falling 18-7 to the Warriors, and this came despite a 3-1 first-quarter lead.
Liverpool outscored the Mustangs 14-4 over the course of the second and third periods, with Kendall Keahey (five goals), Dom Castiglia and Dillon Rogers (four goals each) leading the charge. Only Filtch had multiple goals for Marcellus, as he scored three times and the quartet of O’Sullivan, Rohe, Lobello and Nate Garlow had one goal apiece.
With no time to rest, Marcellus played a sixth game in 10 days on Thursday and had enough energy to beat Cortland 17-11. Wisely, the Mustangs went all-out in the first half, building a 12-2 lead, so it could unwind in the latter stages and not pay too much for it.
Again, Filtch led the way, with four goals and one assist, with Hutchings and O’Sullivan each getting three goals and Hutchings adding two assists. Cox and Aaron Cusick gained two goals apiece as Rohe and Garlow both had one goal and one assist and Rice found the net, too.
Jordan-Elbridge’s season, full of plenty of ups and downs, returned to a temporary high note last Tuesday night with a visit to Onondaga and an impressive 14-5 victory over the Tigers.
The key to the Eagles’ victory was the fast start to each half. J-E grabbed a 5-1 lead by the end of the first quarter, and any hopes OCS had to rally vanished when the Eagles shut them out and scored four unanswered goals in the third quarter for a 13-4 edge.
Colby Falcone and Logan Schwarting each scored three times and added an assist. Zach Wagner had two goals and three assists, with Dale Wagner also getting three assists and Hunter Brunelle adding two goals and two assists. Dylan Dunham contributed two goals and one assist. Sam Robles and Nate Town had the other goals.
In Friday night’s visit to Skaneateles, J-E hung tough for a long while, but scoring bursts from the Lakers proved enough to hand the Eagles a 14-9 defeat.
Mainly, J-E paid for a first quarter where it did not get on the board. Skaneateles seized a 4-0 lead and got up by as much as seven, 9-2, at halftime, before the Eagles fought back, cutting the margin to 10-7 early in the fourth quarter before two Lakers goals 23 seconds apart thwarted that comeback.
Robles still managed three goals, with Falcone adding two goals and two assists. Brunelle also scored twice as Zach Wagner produced a goal and three assists. Town got a goal and Dunham added two assists as, in the net, Nick Hallinan earned 10 saves.
Bishop Ludden roared past Manlius-Pebble Hill 18-4 last Monday night, blanking the Trojans 9-0 in the second half to get away as goalie Chris Hurley stopped 10 of the 14 shots he faced.
Connor Smith got to double digits in points thanks to seven goals and three assists. Phillip Buque managed five goals and two assists, while Dominick Delvecchio piled up six assists to go with his three-goal hat trick. Joe Spano and Doug Myrdek each had one goal and one assist.
A 19-1 rout of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill followed on Wednesday night, with Buque (five goals, three assists), Delvecchio (four goals, four assists) and Smith (three goals, five assists) arriving at the same point totals. Mark Shattuck also had three goals, adding an assist, with Steven King adding two goals and one assist. Myrdek and James Noonan also found the net.
Then, on Thursday, Ludden almost stunned traditional power LaFayette, but fell 14-13 in overtime to the Lancers after the two sides matched goal totals in each of the four quarters of regulation, including a 5-5 exchange in the third quarter.
Smith scored four times, adding four assists, his passes often going to Buque, who had five goals. Joe Spano added three assists. Shattuck got two goals. Delvecchio had a goal and two assists and King added a goal as Jordyn Marchiano carried LaFayette’s attack, earning seven goals and two assists.
