When it was time for the Marcellus boys lacrosse team to play its first road game of 2018, it proved that it could handle a high-pressure situation.
The Mustangs were shut out by Hilton in the first quarter of last Tuesday’s opener, but overcame a five-goal deficit in the second half and pulled it out, 10-9, over the Cadets.
Marcellus only got on the board in the second period, after Hilton had jumped out 4-0. Eventually, the Cadets led 7-2 at the break, only to have the Mustangs control the second half on both ends and gradually eat into that margin.
With one minute left, and still trailing 9-8, the Mustangs got even with Matt Reich’s goal with one minute to play. Marcellus quickly got the ball back and, with 26 seconds left, Gabe VanOrder threw in what proved to be the game-winner.
Sparked by the play of goalie Rob Seeley, who had 17 saves, VanOrder finished with two goals and two assists as Matt Connell and Matt Crysler also scored twice. Emmitt Barry and Luke Ingianni each had one goal and one assist.
Meanwhile, Westhill had roared through its opponents since a season-opening loss to General Brown on March 22, making it three in a row last Tuesday by handling LaFayette 20-9.
Essentially, the Warriors decided matters in the first quarter by netting 11 goals, an average of nearly one goal per minute. LaFayette spent the rest of the game trying to recover from that blitz.
Owen Matukas led with five goals and one assist. Charlie Bolesh scored four times as Jack Grooms got three goals and one assist, with Reilly Sizing earning two goals and two assists. Will Delano also found the net twice as single goals went to Alex Padula and Liam Felter.
It was supposed to get a lot tougher for Westhill Thursday night when it faced Fayetteville-Manlius, but that gam fell victim to the snow and cold temperatures, as did a Marcellus visit to Tully.
Things resumed for the Mustangs Saturday when it faced the same General Brown team Westhill had lost to two weeks earlier.
Now, it was Marcellus finding out how good the Lions were in a narrow 14-13 defeat, the hosts paying for a bad first half where its defense could not do much to contain GB and it fell behind 10-4.
All through the second half, Marcellus aimed to catch up. Tierney scored four times as VanOrder and Barry each had three-goal hat tricks, VanOrder adding two assists. Connell had two goals and one assist as Ingianni added a single goal.
To hang on, the Lions needed six assists from Bryce Johnson, who spread things around as Dominic Lutz, Adam Smith and Corey O’Connor had three goals apiece and Carter Rosebrook found the net twice.
Jordan-Elbridge got overwhelmed by Skaneateles last Tuesday in a 16-2 defeat, its young roster no match for the skill and speed of the Lakers, who netted half of its goals in the first quarter while building an 8-1 edge.
Wade Brunelle and Sean Feeney each had first-half goals, while Luke Pinckney and Ethan Fraser picked up assists. Steve Tripp had eight saves as, for the Lakers, Nick Wamp (four goals, three assists), John Danforth (four goals) and Pat Hackler (two goals, six assists) proved tough to contain.
While others sat idle on Thursday, J-E did play and defeated Manlius-Pebble Hill 12-4. Never trailing, the Eagles roared out to a 5-0 edge by the end of the first quarter and continued to pad that margin the rest of the way.
Deacon Hill and Riordan Parker both had three goals, while Brunelle and Pinckney each had two goals and two assists. Fraser had one goal and one assist and Ricky Hill also scored, with assists going to Trent Thomas and Landry LaFleur.
On a windy, cold Wednesday where most contests were postponed, Bishop Ludden/Onondaga did play, at Homer, and hung close for a long while before taking a 16-6 defeat to the Trojans.
Ludden/OCS only trailed 6-4 at halftime, helped by goalie Chris Hurley, who finished with 17 saves as Matt Delany notched four of his team’s six goals, with the others going to Mac Mulhern and Ethan Gentile, who each got one assist.
Homer did pull away in the second half, though, led by Dante Yacavone, who piled up four goals and four assists as Vincent Basile scored five times. Dylan Yacavone and Lars Roos both had a pair of goals.
