Though they weren’t facing each other during the first full week of May, the Christian Brothers Academy and East Syracuse Minoa boys lacrosse teams made plenty of local noise of its own.
The Brothers had jumped to no. 4 in the state Class D rankings following its 9-6 win over then-unbeaten and no. 1-ranked Westhill on April 27 and a 21-7 rout of Carthage two days later. CBA’s momentum continued last Tuesday, at Tuesday, where it matched its Carthage output and bashed the Black Knights 21-6.
Prolific in the first half, the Brothers were up 18-2 by intermission, led by Ben McCreary, who piled up six assists to go with his three-goal hat trick as Mike Adornato set a career mark with five goals and Alex Calkins scored four times, adding two assists.
Patrick O’Brien also had a three-goal hat trick, contributing an assist. Mike Matteson and Ryan McKenzie each had one goal and one assist, with Preston Taylor and Zach Eber also netting goals. Eli Weiss, Lewes Kunda and Colin Kelly got assists.
Now a bigger game loomed on Thursday, CBA facing state no. 8-ranked Skanetaeles, who had lost to the Brothers 15-6 a month earlier at Alibrandi Stadium and was burning for payback, even though it was coming off a loss to LaFayette.
It proved a battle – and CBA won it again, beating Skaneateles 12-9 in large part because it would contain the Lakers for long stretches of the game.
It took more than five minutes for either side to score as Reggie Buell put the Lakers on the board, but Skaneateles didn’t score again until John Danforth converted with nine seconds left in the period, and in the intervening time CBA netted four straight goals to move out in front.
Now the Lakers’ defense stepped up, blanking the Brothers for much of the second quarter. Meanwhile, Pat Hackler and Will McGlynn both scored to tie it, and Hackler’s goal with less than five minutes left in the half put Skaneateles front, 5-4.
CBA would turn it around again in the middle stages, pulling even, 5-5, by halftime and then doubling its total during an active third quarter. Hackler did score in the final minute to cut the margin to 10-8, but then it got shut out for most of the fourth quarter until Major’s goal in the last 90 seconds.
Calkins and McCreary would take turns punishing the Skaneateles defense, each of them netting four goals as Calkins got two assists and McCreary one assist. Matteson and O’Brien both scored twice and got one assist, while Augie Bonacci added an assist and Vavonese recorded 11 saves.
As for ESM, it worked past Fulton 13-5 last Tuesday afternoon, a game which was scoreless in the first quarter before the Spartans began to take control late in the half and then scored seven times in a fast-paced third quarter to put the Red Raiders away.
Derrek Madonna, by himself, outscored Fulton by finding the net six times, often fed by Luke Rosaschi, who had a season-best six assists. Lance Madonna, David Neff and Nate Jacobs each had one goal and one assist as Dan Boland, Alex Recor and Mark WIllette notched single goals of their own.
Two days later, ESM was back home, against Central Square, and rolling past the Redhawks 15-5, and even that didn’t reflect the game’s one-sided nature as the Spartans bolted out to a 12-0 halftime lead before easing up late.
Rosaschi led the way, scoring four times and adding an assist. Jacobs had three goals and one assist, while Derrek and Lance Madonna both finished with two goals and two assists. Neff, Willette and Alex Kelsey had one goal apiece as Joe Regan joined Willette in the assist column.
However, things turned around in Saturday’s game against New Hartford. Proving that its 9-2 start wasn’t a fluke, and making a case for a state ranking, those other Spartans would control matters from start to finish, handing ESM a 16-6 defeat.
Really, things were decided in the first quarter, as New Hartford bolted out to a 7-1 advantage, eventually leading 10-2 by halftime. And it was mostly a two-man show as Dan Torres would pile up seven goals and three assists, while New Hartford teammate Dylan Owens contributed six goals.
By contrast, ESM had just one player, Lance Madonna, score twice. Derrek Madonna had one goal and one assist, while Jacobs and Boland had the other goals and David Neff contributed an assist. Bombarded most of the way, goalie Andrew Steigerwald made 13 saves.
