Knowing the challenges they had when dealing with every other opponent in the tough CNY Counties League, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse teams sensed the importance of their head-to-head clash last Tuesday at LHS Stadium.
And the Warriors won it, edging the Northstars 10-9 in a contest kept in doubt right until the final horn and characterized by tremendous individual performances from Liverpool teammates Devin Dewane and Cabry Hildmann.
Also, the home side showed a lot of resilience in the face of a second-quarter shutout. Liverpool led, 3-1, through one period, only to get blanked the rest of the half as C-NS inched into a 4-3 lead.
When the drought ended in the third quarter, the Warriors caught up at 6-6, and it made big plays down the stretch while seeing goalie Cole Zaferikas work his total to 14 saves, the most he’s made in a game this spring.
Dewane scored four times overall, with Hildmann adding a three-goal hat trick of his own. Dylan Wallace gained a goal and two assists as Ben Root and Jake Piseno had the other goals. Kyle Caves picked up an assist.
C-NS saw Justin Griffith scored three times, plus an assist, while Josh Pickard notched two goals. Tommy Flynn had one goal and one assist as Austin VanDewalker, Brian Rowe and Joel Firth also scored. Josh Brazell gained an assist as goalie Brian Jobin made 10 saves.
Worse for C-NS, it had to turn around Thursday and host West Genesee in what was the 900th game coached by Mike Messere, who has seen dozens of his former players move on to the coaching ranks – including Northstars head coach Bill Aldrich.
Here, again, the master got the better of one of his pupils as the state Class A no. 6-ranked Wildcats beat the Northstars 11-4, largely on the basis of a first half where it controlled the face-offs and, with a steady attack, built an 8-2 advantage.
C-NS did a solid job containing WG’s leading goal-scorer, Jay Considine, holding him to a pair of assists, but others stepped up as Kevin Sheehan got four goals, with Max Rosa and Jack Howes adding two goals apiece. For the Northstars, Griffith, Pickard, Rowe and Brody Guido earned one goal apiece, with Firth and Griffith picking up assists.
Liverpool would face an even greater struggle in its game at Fayetteville-Manlius on that same afternoon. The Warriors lost, 20-6, to the state no. 15-ranked Hornets, who used a relentless attack that peaked in the game’s middle stages as it scored a combined 13 goals in the second and third periods.
Amid this barrage, Hildmann and Steve Audley both found the net twice for Liverpool, with Dewane and Cade Clouthier earning single goals. Wallace and Caves had assists and Zaferikas made 11 saves. Six different F-M players scored more than once, with Donovan Welsh (three goals, three assists) and Mac Fish (four goals, one assist) leading the charge.
On Saturday, Liverpool rebounded with an exciting 12-11 victory over LaFayette that featured, amid the back-and-forth action, the Warriors scoring a goal on a long shot from midfield and plenty of lead changes.
Not until Zaferikas made a point-blank save in the final seconds, his 12th of the game, did Liverpool hang on to take it, with Caves scoring a career-best four goals, matching Hildmann. Wallace, Audley and Piseno each had one goal and one assist, while Root added a goal. Dan Salamino and Connor Jones picked up assists.
