Once more this spring, a sports team at Liverpool achieved an unlikely large-scale comeback.
Only this was boys lacrosse, and not softball, and the deficit was greater and the stakes higher as the Warriors, once down by nine goals, somehow made it all the way back to stun Syracuse 14-13 in overtime in Saturday’s opening round of the Section III Class A playoffs.
When Dylan Wallace flung the decisive shot past Cougars goalie Robert Martin in the extra period, it sent Liverpool to Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against top seed West Genesee – but that game, no matter how memorable, has a difficult act to follow.
A close contest was expected, since Liverpool, the no. 4 seed, and Syracuse, the no. 5 seed, had split their two regular-season meetings – the Cougars prevailing 10-9 on April 25, the Warriors winning 12-10 on May 12.
Eight days after the second meeting, the two sides were back at LHS Stadium, and it was all Cougars at the outset. With a well-balanced attack and control at the face-off circle, Syracuse quickly went out in front, and blanked the Warriors in the second quarter as its lead grew to 7-1 by halftime.
Things got worse for Liverpool early in the second half. Led by Ryan Eccles and Sterling Claflin (three goals each), the Cougars extended the margin to 12-3 midway through the third period.
Here, though, Syracuse started to relax – and Liverpool began to pepper Martin, cutting the deficit to 12-6 by the end of the period on consecutive goals by Wallace, Kyle Caves and Ben Root.
Early in the final period, Matt Eccles scored for the Cougars to make it 13-6, and what followed stunned everyone on both sides.
Gradually, the Warriors chipped away, making it 13-9, and the pressure forced the Cougars into taking penalties, which led to man-up situations as Liverpool wore Syracuse’s defenses down.
Now with all of the momentum, the Warriors scored three more times. Then, with 1:04 left in regulation, Devin Dewane beat Martin for the tying goal.
Flying into OT, Liverpool stopped Syracuse twice on defense not allowing a shot, then gained possession and worked the ball around until Wallace, off a feed from Steve Audley, put in the game-winner.
That was fitting, since Wallace led the Warriors with four goals, adding an assist. Caves, Dewane and Audley each scored twice, with Audley and Ryan McGowan each got three assists. McGowan, Cabry Hildmann and Dan Salamino joined Root with single goals as Cole Zaferikas recorded 12 saves.
Hours later, Cicero-North Syracuse, the no. 6 seed in the Class A sectional tournament, attempted to join Liverpool in the semifinals, but could not do so in a 17-8 defeat to no. 3 seed Baldwinsville at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Trailing from the outset against the same Bees side it lost to twice this season (including earlier in the week), the Northstars were within range until the third quarter, when B’ville went on a 7-1 tear to expand upon its 7-4 halftime advantage.
Only Tom Flynn and Josh Pickard scored twice for C-NS, with Flynn adding two assists. Joel Firth, Justin Griffith, Austin VanDewalker and Nate Scarlata had one goal apiece as Brian Rowe added an assist. Ryan Gebhardt scored four times to lead the Bees as Pete Fiorini added two goals and four assists.
On Tuesday at Bragman Stadium, the sectional semifinals would pit Liverpool against West Genesee and B’ville against no. 2 seed Fayetteville-Manlius. The winners would return to that same C-NS turf Thursday night at 7 p.m. for the sectional final.
Somehow, the Warriors would have to turn around last Tuesday’s result against West Genesee, a 20-5 defeat that added to an 11-4 loss to those same Wildcats on April 27. WG controlled it from the outset, 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. Twelve 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.
Amid this onslaught, Liverpool did see Hildmann pick up a three-goal hat trick, while McGowan had two goals and one assist. Audley contributed three assists and Caves also had an assist.
That same night, C-NS lost to B’ville, 14-6, nearly identical to the 15-8 defeat in their first meeting and foreshadowing what would happen in the playoffs, too. Not until the second quarter did C-NS get on the board. By then, it trailed 5-0, and a lot of energy was spent making up ground too easily ceded in the early going.
Rowe did score three times, with Flynn adding two goals. Scarlata got one goal and Brody Guido three assists. In goal, Brian Jobin recorded 10 saves, but Spencer Wirtheim, with four goals, led a well-balanced B’ville attack where Austin Bolton had three goals and two assists, with Fiorini adding a goal and three assists.
