It took until April 7 for the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team to usher in its new era, even if the change wasn’t a profound one.
Doug Madden took over as head coach last summer when Chris Kenneally retired. Madden was the Hornets junior varsity coach for 14 years, so he was familiar with most, if not all, of the players that had worked their way through the program.
F-M was supposed to open its season last Thursday against Westhill, but snow and cold weather forced a postponement. Thus, it had to wait for Saturday’s trip to Holland Stadium to face Auburn to finally get underway.
The wait didn’t affect the Hornets too much as it prevailed, 14-6. For a while, the Maroons hung in there, only trailing 7-5 at halftime, but F-M shored up its play on both ends, only allowing one goal the rest of the way.
Nick Papa led the way, scoring four times and earning a pair of assists. Tommy Farry had three goals as Chris Lubrino and Jack Shanley both had two goals, Lubrino adding two assists. Brandon Leuze had one goal and one assist as Kyle Gilroy and Logan Wilkinson also earned goals and Sam DiChristina earned an assist.
East Syracuse Minoa had lost to Watertown on March 29, but then proceeded to win three games in the first week of April, none bigger than last Saturday’s 13-8 win over Cicero-North Syracuse at Spartan Stadium.
In the second quarter, ESM started to take over, outscoring the Northstars 5-2 to go out in front. Through the course of the second half, the margin kept growing as Owen Anzalone stopped 13 of the 21 C-NS shots he faced.
Tim Crouse, scoring three times, led a well-balanced Spartans attack. Lance Madonna, Gavin Houghtaling, Dan Boland and Jackson Plumb had two goals apiece, with Luke Rosaschi getting a goal and two assists. Derrek Madonna had the other goal.
This winning run started last Monday against Central Square, where ESM handled the Redhawks 18-6.
A potent first half saw the Spartans race out to a 12-3 edge. To maintain that control, ESM had Plumb put up a career-best five goals as Lance Madonna scored three times.
Derrek Madonna had two goals and three assists, with Rosaschi getting two goals and two assists. Houghtaling had two goals and one assist. Michael Kavanagh had a goal and three assists as Boland got a goal and two assists. Crouse and Devin Spencer also scored.
Hosting Cortland Thursday night, ESM ignored the sub-freezing temperatures and piled up goals in a 19-8 victory over the Purple Tigers, again amassing a 12-3 lead by halftime.
Lance Madonna, with three goals and four assists, and Houghtaling, with two goals and five assists, anchored the effort as Crouse notched a career-best five goals. Boland and Derek Madonna had their own three-goal outings as Rosaschi and Plumb each had one goal and one assist. Adam Caramanna also had a goal.
Back from its season-opening defeat to Victor on March 29, Jamesville-DeWitt got into the win column last Monday at Oswego, easily handling matters in a 20-5 romp over the Buccaneers.
With a steady attack, the Red Rams built a 17-4 lead through three periods as Connor Durkin and Griffin Cook both scored four times, Durkin adding three assists and Cook getting a pair of assists.
Will Davis had three goals and two assists, while Brendan Dotar had two goals and one assist. Tanner Burns also scored twice as John Keib had a goal and two assists. Pat Murad and Ryan Vespi each finished with one goal and one assist.
Kept from playing Fairport on Thursday by the snows, J-D
The early struggles for Christian Brothers Academy continued Friday at West Genesee, where the Wildcats blanked the Brothers in the first half and eventually prevailed 16-3.
Ryan Mackenzie’s pair of goals, plus one from Luke Queri, was all that CBA could muster, and that came after WG bolted out to a 10-0 halftime lead.
Jack Howes, with four goals, and Max Rosa, with three goals, led the Wildcats’ charge. Kevin Sheehan grabbed two goals and two assists, with Anthony Datellas and Ryan Smith each getting two goals and one assist.
