Twice, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse team got to the brink of a season-defining win. Twice, it got denied, not the sort of thing it wanted with a regular-season finale against Liverpool looming straight ahad.
To start with, the Northstars got involved in a close, tense affair against visiting Auburn last Tuesday night, and seemed to have it in hand before a fourth-quarter comeback by the Maroons led to C-NS taking a painful 7-6 defeat.
All through the first half, C-NS got what it wanted, playing strong defense on one side while bothering Auburn into turnovers and bad shots on the other side. It created a 5-2 halftime lead, but the Maroons stayed patient and, still trailing 6-4 going to the final period, proceeded to blank the Northstars while surging out in front.
Before going quiet, Brandon O’Brien earned three goals for the Northstars. Dante Whitmire scored twice, while Drew Flack had the other goal and Brian Rowe got an assist. Hunter Dorgan stopped 11 of the 18 shots he faced, but Auburn’s Brian Cunningham solved him, leading the Maroons with three goals and two assists.
But if that game hurt, what happened two nights later hurt even more.
Baldwinsville, perhaps the favorite in the Section III Class A race, was at Bragman Stadium just eight days after beating C-NS 10-6 at home. Here, the Northstars again went out in front and again got caught, with the battle going to overtime before the Bees won in yet another 7-6 decision.
Much of the C-NS offense came in the first quarter, when it bolted to a 5-2 lead. Whitmire worked his way to a three-goal hat trick as O’Brien, Nick Riccardi and Ray Scarlata would also take turns finding the net.
After that, though, the Bees’ defense clamped down. Neither team scored again until the third quarter, when B’ville began to crawl back, though it required them shutting out C-NS in the fourth quarter (just like Auburn did) to get even, 6-6, setting up the OT drama where Ryan Gebhardt put in the game-winner.
Dorgan had done a lot to keep C-NS in it, making 14 saves, but the Bees finally solved him as Gebhardt and Matt Dickman earned two goals apiece, with single tallies going to Charlie Bertrand, Connor Smith and Peter Fiorini, who added a pair of assists.
Liverpool, meanwhile, began the week in a triumphant mood, mostly due to last Monday’s epic battle with the Syracuse Cougars at LHS Stadium that required two overtimes before the Warriors pulled it out by a 9-8 margin.
Having lost 13-7 at Syracuse on April 22, the Warriors were bent on turning that result around, not to mention the disappointment of that 14-13 defeat to Auburn three nights earlier and the urgency a 4-8 record provided.
Liverpool broke in front during the second quarter, gaining a 5-3 lead by halftime. Syracuse fought back and got in front, 7-6, before the fourth quarter, only to see the Warriors’ defense tighten in the late going, centered around goalie Connor Prosser, who made 12 saves.
It was 8-8 by the end of regulation. One overtime period went without resolution, adding to the tension, but in the second OT Dillon Rogers flashed open and ripped a shot into the net for the night.
All game long, Rogers had carried the attack, his OT goal a fifth for the game as Anotnio Rey added a goal and three assists. Cabry Hildmann scored twice and Dylan Wallace got two assists as Ben Root added a goal and Steve Audley got an assists.
With no time to rest, Liverpool had to host West Genesee Thursday night. Again, the Warriors sought to get even with an opponent it lost to this spring, but this time it didn’t get close as the Wildcats dominated the second half and prevailed 15-4.
Angry at falling out of the state rankings for the first time in 38 years, plus sore from an OT loss to Fayetteville-Manlius two nights earlier, the Wildcats endured Liverpool’s solid first-half effort where it only trailed by one, 5-4, at halftime. Rogers, Audley, Hildmann and Rey each had a goal.
Everything changed in the third quarter, though, with WG clamping down and, using a deep and balanced attack (11 different players had at least one goal), pulled away. Not once did the Warriors score in the last two periods, mostly staying on defense as Prosser had 15 saves. Tyler Shoults led WG with four goals.
Liverpool at least broke the skid Friday with an 18-6 win at Union-Endicott, holding the Tigers to one goal in the first half and getting away late as Rey led with four goals and two assists.
Connor Tift notched his first varsity three-goal hat trick, matching Audley’s total as Rogers got two goals and three assists. Hildmann, Wallace, Jake Piseno, Dan Salamino, Mitch Virkler and Jordan Caviness also scored goals, with Jon Jerman, Billy Campbell and Ethan Calderwood picking up assists.
