While West Genesee’s pair of lacrosse teams remain undefeated, it hasn’t proven that easy to stay that way.
It’s especially true for the girls Wildcats, who have twice prevailed by a single goal early this season, including last Tuesday night’s tense 7-6 victory over South Jefferson at Mike Messere Field.
South Jefferson reached the Section III Class D finals a year ago, knocking off state no. 1-ranked Marcellus before falling to eventual state champion Skaneateles.
Already this season, the Spartans had faced Cicero-North Syracuse and Fayetteville-Manlius, splitting those two games as it defeated the Northstars on March 29. WG, off its narrow March 31 win at Fulton, knew this would be tough.
Adrianna Nojaim, Phoebe Nelson and Mackenzie Meager all scored to give the Wildcats a 3-0 edge, but it did not score the rest of the first half as South Jefferson won draws, patiently worked the ball around and seized a 4-3 advantage.
The second half required all of WG’s patience. Twice, it tied the game, with goals by Julia Williams and Matisyn Schaut, but twice the Spartans went back in front as Mackenzie Alexander and Natalie Strough led the visitors with two goals apiece.
But after Nelson forged yet another tie to make it 6-6, the Wildcats got possession and Schaut hit on her second goal. Thanks to its defense and ability to possess the ball, WG made that one-goal lead hold up, Madison Fox earning five saves.
Then the weather affected matters, postponing WG’s game at Victor on Saturday as, in its only action this week, it would return home Wednesday to face the same Rush-Henrietta team that beat Baldwinsville 9-8 late last week.
Originally, the West Genesee boys team was to play at Cazenovia, but it got switched to Mike Messere Field due to the wet conditions at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
The Wildcats then claimed an 11-6 victory over the Lakers, who had seen long-time coach Jim Longo depart and get replaced by Dave Falge last summer, even though Cazenovia had gone to four state finals and won two of them in Longo’s tenure.
Cazenovia tried to control the game’s tempo, but even as it did, WG’s defense held them to a single goal in the second and third quarters as it steadily built an 8-3 lead, too much for the Lakers to overcome.
Ryan Sheehan scored three times, with Kevin Sheehan getting two goals and two assists. Jack Howes and Noah Sabtino also had two-goal outings as Max Rosa and John Galimi also converted. Brad Cunningham and Pat Stanistreet joined Rosa in the assist column.
On Friday night, WG hosted the reigning state Class D champions from Christian Brothers Academy. But the Brothers, hit hard by graduation losses, never got going against the Wildcats, who prevailed in a 16-3 romp.
During a dominant first half, Stanistreet controlled most of the face-offs, allowing the Wildcats the luxury of patient possessions that turned into a string of goals.
At the same time, the Wildcats’ defense blanked CBA, so it was 10-0 at intermission, far out of the Brothers’ reach as Howes, with four goals, and Rosa, with three goals, led the charge.
Kevin Sheehan grabbed two goals and two assists, with Anthony Datellas and Ryan Smith each getting two goals and one assist. Sabatino and Noah Cunningham each had one goal and one assist. Ryan Sheehan had three assists as Jack Delaney also converted.
WG would play a pair of league games this week, going to Corcoran High School to face Syracuse Tuesday before returning home Thursday to take on Cicero-North Syracuse.
