Even as it dealt with all kinds of near-misses in the regular-season homestretch that included overtime losses to Auburn and Baldwinsville, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse team carried with a particularly bitter memory.
That came from when Liverpool showed up at Bragman Stadium on April 14 and, amid its own struggles, managed to shut down the Northstars for long portions of an 8-4 Warriors victory.
A month later, when the two neighbors and rivals reunited at LHS Stadium, it proved a far different contest. Liverpool appeared to gain control late in the first half, only to get run over by a second-half C-NS blitz on both ends that helped the visitors prevail 16-8, exactly double the margin of the first encounter.
When the two teams played to a 1-1 first-quarter deadlock, it appeared that very little had changed. But that appearance soon gave way to a Liverpool attack that, in the second quarter, threatened to smother C-NS as it scored seven times and built up an 8-5 halftime advantage.
Dillon Rogers, in particular, was having his way with the Northstars, netting four goals and two assists. Steve Audley added two goals and two assists as Dylan Wallace got a pair of assists. Antonio Rey and Cabry Hildmann each had one goal and one assist.
Something changed during the break, though, and where Liverpool once seemed unstoppable, now it couldn’t get anything done against C-NS, who started dominating face-offs and took off on a stunning 11-0 second-half run.
Depth had a lot to do with it, as 10 different Northstars found the net at least once. Only Josh Pickard got three goals, with Nate Scarlata getting two goals and two assists. Brandon O’Brien had two goals and one assist, with Dante Whitmire and Drew Flack also scoring twice.
Helping them out, Nick Riccardi scored once and tacked on three assists. Ray Scarlata, Brian Rowe and Joel Firth each had one goal and one assist and Justin Griffith earned the other goal. C-NS pitched a second-half shutout on the defensive side, never letting Liverpool get to Hunter Dorgan, who made five saves, half the total of Warriors goalie Connor Prosser.
Of course, the game had an even greater meaning because, with that loss, Liverpool fell to 6-10 and fell just short of the .400 win percentage it needed to reach the Section III Class A playoffs.
C-NS, meanwhile, got in as the no. 5 seed, meaning that, if it beats no. 4 seed Syracuse Tuesday night at Corcoran High School, it comes home to Bragman Stadium to challenge top seed Baldwinsville in next Thursday night’s semifinal at 7 p.m. The final is May 28 at 4 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
