What West Genesee boys lacrosse fans are facing is something it’s never dealt with before – a season closer to the .500 mark than the championship mark.

When last week’s state Class A rankings was released, the Wildcats, at 8-6, were not in them. That in itself wasn’t a surprise – but what was a shock was that WG had appeared in every single state ranking every week of every season since they first started in 1977.

So that was nearly four decades of consistent, relentless excellence that halted, and for the Wildcat faithful, more frustration followed as it squandered a five-goal halftime lead at West Genesee last Tuesday night and fell to the Hornets 10-9 in overtime.

Having lost 9-8 to F-M back on April 22 in Camillus, WG wanted to get even, and for a long while, it looked like the Wildcats would.Already with a 3-2 edge through one period, WG dominated the second quarter, winning draws and turning extra possession time into a string of goals that left the Hornets starting at a 7-2 deficit at the break.

Against past Wildcats teams, such a deficit was too much to overcome. Not here, though, so F-M began its comeback, pulling within two, 8-6, by the time they reached the fourth quarter and then making up the rest of the margin in the waning minutes thanks to key wins in the face-off circle.

So they went to overtime even at 9-9. Just like it did against J-D, the Hornets came up with the ball and, after working it around, got it to Tyler Papa, who already had four goals on the night.

When Papa beat Ryan Mavretish for the fifth time, F-M had handed WG its seventh defeat of the season, the most every suffered by a team in Mike Messere’s 41 years coaching the Wildcats.  Helping out on the attack, Donovan Welsh scored three goals, with Nick Papa and Dan Burnam getting one goal apiece Ryan Boshart made 12 saves.

WG’s Matt McDonald led his side with four goals. Kevin Sheehan got three assists, with Tyler Shoults finding the net twice. Ryan Smith, Manny Castro and Ryan McDonald had the other goals.

All of these defeats, so many of them close contests, had created a season’s worth of frustration – and WG got a chance to get rid of some of it Thursday night, at Liverpool.

The Wildcats gladly did so, pummeling the Warriors 15-4, but even this game was in doubt throughout the first half. Only up by a goal, 5-4, at the break, WG proceeded to smother Liverpool on both ends of the field during a second-half shutout.

Eleven different players got at least one goal, led by Shoults, who scored four times. Ryan McDonald had two goals and one assist, while Castro, Sheehan and Matt McDonald each had a goal and two assists. Bartlett had one goal and one assist as Smith, Max Rosa, Pat McDonald, Matt Corbett and Jack Howes took turns scoring, too.

On Tuesday night, WG hosts 13-2 Auburn in its regular-season finale, where it hopes to avenge a 10-9 defeat on April 14 at Holland Stadium and find some much-needed momentum for the ensuing Section III Class A playoffs.