By the time the Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt girls lacrosse teams assembled Saturday as part of a twin bill of games between the two neighboring schools, a whole lot had happened during the week, especially with the Hornets.
F-M had to go to Camillus to face a revenge-minded West Genesee, and the stifling nature of the Wildcats’ defense ended up as the main story in the Hornets’ 9-4 defeat.
Back on April 12, F-M had beaten the Wildcats for the first time in 11 years. Yet the sting from an April 29 overtime defeat at Skaneateles lingered for the Hornets and that, combined with WG’s intense defensive focus, nearly led to a first-half shutout.
The Wildcats did just what had taken place in that first meeting, scoring the first five goals. Only here, that was spread out as WG, led by sophomore Mackenzie Meager, did a better job on the draws and stayed patient, worked long possessions and saw Mackenzie Baker take advantage of the attention given her by assisting on three goals while scoring another.
Not until it was 7-0, and halftime was approaching, did F-M convert. By then, the dominance of the Wildcats’ defense was well-established, and even when the Hornets did get shots off, WG goalie Claudia Mocciaro often scooped them up, earning 11 saves.
F-M’s leading scorer, Kiera Shanley, was kept off the board, and no Hornets player scored more than once as Katie Shanley, Jane Cote, Gemma Adonizio and Amanda Cramer got those goals. Baker finished with three goals and four assists as Cecilia Procopio also scored three times for WG.
Then it was the Hornets trying to avenge its April 18 defeat to Baldwinsville on its home turf Thursday, which it did in a big way, bashing the Bees 19-10 thanks to two sustained scoring runs.
For much of the first half, F-M was in control, building a 6-0 lead. But B’ville stormed back and was within two, 9-7, by halftime before the Hornets earned the first six goals of the second half, too, putting the game away.
Annie Steigerwald scored five times, adding an assist, while Cramer had four goals and two assists. Addonizio had her own four-goal outing and Kiera Shanley had three goals. Katie Shanley got a goal and three assists as Sydney DiGirolamo and Allison Macrae also scored. Cote contributed a pair of assists.
While all this was going on, J-D had last Monday’s game with Westhill postponed by the severe weather threat, but things were quieter by the time the Red Rams faced East Syracuse Minoa on Wednesday night.
J-D handled the Spartans 14-3, deciding matters before halftime as the Rams claimed most of the draws, had most of the possession and steadily built a 10-1 lead, draining out the game’s suspense.
Jillian Risavi and Lindsay MacLachlan each finished with three goals and one assist, with Riley Burns getting two goals and three assists. Lizzie O’Brien also scored twice, with Ana Dieroff and Katie Lutz each earning one goal and one assist.
Emily Bobrek and Chloe Loewenguth also netted goals in J-D’s winning effort. Riley LaTray earned a spot in the assist column as Brigid McGinley netted two of ESM’s three goals, with Olivia McEachron earning the other. Cara Miller had six saves.
And J-D would play again the night before the F-M clash, beating Syracuse 16-4 as O’Brien, Dieroff and MacLachlan each earned three goals and ccombined for four assists. Bess Murad scored twice, adding two assists as Burns also got two goals. Gabby Modesti and Arysa Lux earned single goals as Lutz earned an assist.
