Just when it bound to the top of the state Class B rankings, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team fell back, thanks to home defeats to Cazenovia and Fayetteville-Manlius.
The Red Rams couldn’t fret about it, though, because just two days after the 12-11 overtime loss to F-M, it hosted another dangerous opponent, state Class C no. 17-ranked Marcellus, who would actually score more goals than F-M or Cazenovia did – but not enough of them.
J-D beat the Mustangs 18-13, having steadily gained a 10-6 halftime advantage before Marcellus made a third-quarter surge, cutting its deficit in half, but not quite able to catch up to the blistering pace the Rams set.
Griffin Cook, piling up seven assists, fed it to Grayson Burns (five goals, two assists) and Ryan Archer (four goals, three assists) while also scoring twice himself. Charlie Digristina roared back to form with a three-goal hat trick as Joe Kiesa, Anthony DiGiovanni, Andrew Barclay and Austin Dieroff got one goal apiece. Dylan Fleischmann made 10 saves to overcome four-goal efforts from Marcellus teammates Matt Hutchings and Gabe Van Order, plus three goals from Ross Filtch.
Then J-D got tested again 24 hours later against a LaFayette team that had won eight in a row following a 1-6 start. The Lancers nearly made it nine straight, but the Rams did just enough down the stretch to pull out an 11-10 decision.
All game long, whatever J-D accomplished, LaFayette would answer. That would include a third quarter where each side would only score once, allowing the Rams to cling to its narrow 7-6 advantage.
Led by Percy Booth, who scored four goals, the Lancers tried hard to pull even, but Archer made sure that didn’t happen, piling up a season-best seven assists to help Burns (three goals), Barclay, Rosario Digristina and Adam Fontana (two goals apiece) produce key goals. Cook got held to one goal and Charlie Digristina added an assist.
Compared to all this, Friday’s 15-4 win over Homer proved a much-needed breather as Archer gained three goals and five assists, those passes often going to Burns, who scored five times, and Cook, who had three goals and one assist. Kiesa added two goals as Fontana, DiGiovanni and Tyler McKee notched single goals.
When Christian Brothers Academy met up with East Syracuse Minoa last Monday night at Alibrandi Stadium, it didn’t prove close as the Brothers took charge from the outset and beat the Spartans 19-7.
ESM could only manage a single scoring play in the first half, CBA zooming to an 8-1 advantage. Then it kept answering even as the Spartans’ attack came to life in the last two periods as Alex Calkins poured in six goals, adding an assist.
The Spartans couldn’t concentrate on Calkins because Ben McCreary, Lincoln McGarrity and Patrick O’Brien each scored three times, McCreary and McGarriy adding assists. John Mullin and Sam Martin both had a goal and three assists, with Augie Bonacci getting one goal and two assists. Lynch Raby also found the net.
On ESM’s side, Connor Smith scored twice, adding one assist, while Nate Jacobs also had two goals. Luke Rosaschi had one goal and two assists and Nate Sturick got one goal and one assist. Joe Moore contributed a goal as Andrew Steigerwald and Cameron Jarvis combined for 18 saves.
In a possible playoff preview, CBA visited Skaneateles Wednesday night, and if it did offer a hint at post-season results, the Brothers would rather forget the whole thing in the wake of a 15-7 loss to the Lakers.
With a big, physical lineup, Skaneateles pushed CBA around on its way to an 8-5 halftime lead, and then really got away as Reggie Buell, with six goals and one assists, nearly matched the Brothers by himself and Sam Duggan added five goals and two assists.
No one on the Brothers’ squad could get close to those totals, seeing McGarrity and McCreary both finish with two goals and one assist. Calkins had one goal and one assist and O’Brien had the other goal. Matt Vavonese had eight saves, but couldn’t keep everything out.
Meanwhile, ESM went to Homer Wednesday night still in search of a playoff-clinching seventh win, but didn’t get close to it, falling to the Trojans 15-1 as everything seemed to go wrong.
Other than Alex Regan’s second-quarter goal, the Spartans were shut out. Steigerwald’s 16 saves kept it from getting worse, but Homer got three-goal hat tricks from Dante Yacavone, Vince Basile and Tucker O’Donnell, with Yacavone adding four assists.
Saturday brought some relief to CBA as it beat Vestal (Section IV) 9-6, a game where the Brothers – whose record, ironically, improved to 9-6 – got shut out in the first quarter and still trailed, 4-2, at halftime before using a 4-0 third-quarter surge to go in front of the Golden Bears for good.
Vavonese stopped 15 of the 21 shots he faced, which kept the Brothers in touch before its late comeback. McCreary then scored four times as McGarrity added two goals. Calkins and O’Brien also found the net as Martin got two assists. Jace Whelan and John Mullin had one assist apiece.
