After all the early struggles and tumult, and all of the news made on and off the field, each of the West Genesee lacrosse teams are back in familiar positions – sporting top seeds for the Section III Class A playoffs and bent on reclaiming the titles they’ve held so often.
The boys Wildcats proved quite impressive in last Tuesday’s trip to Liverpool. Against a Warriors team that had played well late in the season, WG put together a first-rate effort on offense and blew out the Warriors 20-5.
Perhaps remembering that it only won 11-4 the first time these teams met on April 27, It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to assert total control, grabbing a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and extending the margin to 11-2 by halftime. All the while, Jay Considine burned Liverpool’s defense often, finishing his day with three goals and five assists.
In all, 12 different WG players scored at least once. Kevin Sheehan had two goals and three assists, with Max Rosa, Noah Sabatino and Tom Baker also finding the net twice. Jack Howes had a goal and three assists.
Pat McDonald and Ryan Smith both had one goal and one assist. Manny Castro, Ryan Sheehan, Tyler Palmer and Jack Delaney put in single goals, with assists going to John Bergan and John Galimi.
In girls lacrosse, West Genesee has risen to no. 6 in the state Class A rankings, and ended the regular season with a nine-game win streak that also produced a top seed for the sectional playoffs.
At home for Senior Night last Tuesday, the Wildcats jumped all over Liverpool in a 19-6 victory.
Liverpool, who had lost to West Genesee 17-4 in late April, found the rematch just as difficult. ‘WG scored the game’s first six goals, two each by Mackenzie Baker and Ally Trice. Liverpool did answer with back-to-back tallies to make it 6-2, but that was as close as it would get.
Steadily, the Wildcats extended the margin to 11-3 by halftime, and then pulled further away as Baker worked her total to six goals and two assists, with Trice taking on a larger role as she scored four times.
Julia Williams, Eliza MacCaull and Lauren Ferris netted two goals apiece. Cecilia Procopio got two assists as Catherine Farrell, Kyla Kick and Gabriella Meager scored too, Meager netting her first varsity goal.
Then, in Wednesday’s non-league game at Jamesville-DeWitt, a fast proved critical for the Wildcats, who held on to beat the Red Rams 11-9.
It was 5-0 before the game was six minutes old as Baker netted the first three goals, followed by tallies from Procopio and Trice. The margin got to 9-3 before J-D, scoring three straight, cut that lead to 9-6 by halftime.
A low-scoring second half followed, with the Rams pulling within two on a couple of occasions, but no closer as McCaull’s second goal with 30 seconds left sealed it. Baker finished with four goals and four assists as Trice scored three times, with Procopio adding two assists. Ferris had one goal and one assist.
As the top seed in Class A, the WG girls would wait until this Thursday to face either no. 4 seed Liverpool or no. 5 seed Syracuse in the semifinals – ironically, played on the same J-D turf the Wildcats just won on.
Meanwhile, seven teams qualified for the sectional Class A boys lacrosse tournament, with WG awaiting a third encounter with either no. 4 seed Baldwinsville or no. 5 seed Liverpool Tuesday in the semifinals at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, the same venue where Thursday’s sectional final takes place at 7 p.m.
