If one victory by the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team over West Genesee was satisfying, a second win brought immense joy, as much for the way it happened as for any other reason.
Trailing by five goals at halftime to a Wildcats side in a rare mood of desperation, the Hornets still made it all the way back and, with Tyler Papa’s goal, prevailed 10-9 in overtime.
This was F-M’s second straight OT victory to go with the 12-11 decision at Jamesville-DeWitt on May 7. That came against a Red Rams team ranked no. 1 in the state in Class B at the time, but here the Hornets were facing a West Genesee side that had fallen out of the state rankings for the first time since those rankings began in 1977.
While it certainly knew about the end to that 39-year state ranking streak, WG’s more pressing concern was trying to atone for a 9-8 home defeat to F-M on April 22, and for a long while, it looked like the Wildcats would get even.
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 and Ryan Cicci contributing an assist. Ryan Boshart made 12 saves, four more than Mavretish, as WG’s Matt McDonald led his side with four goals.
When F-M hosted Auburn two nights later in a rematch of the 10-8 defeat it took at Holland Stadium on May 4, the Hornets were poised for another big win – only to get pushed into OT for the third consecutive game and, finally, get beat in that extra period, the Maroons prevailing in yet another 12-11 verdict.
Here, the Hornets were on the wrong end of a fourth-quarter comeback. It led, 9-7, through three periods, but Auburn fought back to get even and then, gaining possession in OT, prevailed when Alex Burgmaster put it past Boshart for his fourth goal of the night, to go with one assist.
Before that, Boshart had made 15 saves while, in front of him, Tyler Papa remained hot with three goals and one assist. Dan Burnam scored twice, adding three assists, while Welsh and Nick Papa also had two-goal outings. Mac Fish got three assists as James Rettinger and Luke Hamel notched single goals.
On the same Tuesday night that the boys Hornets beat West Genesee, F-M’s girls lacrosse team, no. 13 in its state Class A rankings, went for a signature win of its own, against no. 14-ranked Cicero-North Syracuse, but could not quite pull it off, taking a 9-7 defeat to the Northstars.
These same sides had met April 22 at Bragman Stadium, and C-NS had won that game, too, by a two-goal margin. Remembering that 11-9 defeat, the Hornets were aggressive and productive in the rematch, matching the Northstars shot-for-shot and going to the break tied, 6-6.
The second half proved quite different. Once C-NS went in front, it used defense to frustrate F-M, holding them to just one goal in those last 25 minutes and getting seven saves from goalie Lauren Gilbert.
Before that late shutdown, Kiera Shanley and Jamison Seabury had each netted two goals, with Jane Cote, Amanda Cramer and Mary Trop also finding the net. Gemma Addonizio earned two assists and Katie Shanley got an assist as Jessica Meneilly (four goals) and Meghan Duffy (three goals, two assists) led the C-NS push.
Perhaps this game had a lingering effect, for two days later F-M lost, 12-10, to Marcellus, who backed up its no. 13 state Class C ranking by overcoming the Hornets’ 6-4 halftime lead with a strong second-half effort.
Trop still scored four times, with Kiera Shanley and Maya Chiesa each netting two goals. Cote and Sydney DeGirolamo had the other goals as Allison Macrae had three assists and Katie Shanley had two assists. Grace Coon led Marcellus with four goals and three assists, getting help from Maddie Conklin and Abby Vetsch, who had three goals apiece.
The skid ended Saturday as F-M handled East Syracuse Minoa 21-8 to improve its record to 10-5, with only Tuesday’s game at Auburn still left on its regular-season slate.
Up 8-5 at halftime, the Hornets got away from the Spartans in the late going as Trop netted seven goals by game’s end. DeGirolamo had three goals and three assists, with Katie Shanley getting two goals and five assists.
Addonizio got two goals and three assists as Cote, Macrae and Seabury each got one goal and one assist. Kiera Shanley added a goal as Kate McGarrity and Tate Kohlbrenner each scored twice for ESM, with Brigid McGinley, Janee DeLuca, Bella Talarico and Alexis Filmer earning the other goals.
