Just like so many times before, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team understands that the path to a Section III Class A championship means conquering West Genesee.
That didn’t happen back on April 13, when a poor first half cost the Hornets in an 11-8 defeat in Camillus. But the rematch on Tuesday night proved far different as dominance in the face-off circle by Zak Van Valkenburgh and a seven-goal effort from Donovan Welsh led to a 15-6 victory over the Wildcats.
WG arrived at the latest chapter in this long and storied rivalry riding an eight-game win streak, having climbed to no. 4 in the state Class A rankings, 14 spots above F-M. but the battle-toughened Hornets had gained some confidence from a near-upset of reigning two-time state champion Victor three days earlier.
Aside from the revenge factor, F-M was driven to get a better start against the Wildcats, since it never fully recovered from an 8-3 halftime deficit to them the first time around.
Van Valkenburgh took care of the possession problem, winning all five of the first-quarter face-offs. As a result, WG didn’t take a shot until the game was nine minutes old.
By then, the Hornets had a 4-0 lead, and Welsh already owned a hat trick. His first two goals came 23 seconds apart, followed a minute later by an assist on Mac Fish’s tally before Welsh struck again for a third goal.
Ultimately, thanks to Van Valkenburgh, F-M won eight of 10 face-offs in the first half. Gaining even more possession time, the Hornets made it 6-0 early in the second quarter on goals by Luke Burnam and Luke Hamel.
Not until Ryan Sheehan scored with 4:47 left in the half did WG get on the board. But James Rettinger answered, and Welsh’s fourth goal eight seconds before halftime made it 8-1 at the break.
The margin got as big as 13-3 in the third quarter as Welsh connected for three more goals, with Fish and Nick Papa also finding the net. After the Wildcats made a brief surge early in the final period, Burnam and Papa netted goals 21 seconds apart to cap off F-M’s winning effort.
