Now it was time for both of the Fayetteville-Manlius lacrosse teams to head into the high-profile portions of their schedule.
The girls Hornets were in superb shape, having routed each of its first three opponents before another solid performance against Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday in its Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division opener.
F-M beat the Northstars 14-9, a far less lopsided outcome than before, but still solid as it steadily made its way to a 7-3 halftime lead and answered every time C-NS tried to catch up.
Amanda Cramer scored five times, adding an assist. Annie Steigerwald added four goals as Katie Shanley and Ava Angello both notched two goals. Maddie Noel added a goal as assists went to Kiera Shanley and Gemma Addonizio.
It figured to get tougher at Baldwinsville two nights later, and it was a close, back-and-forth affair – but once more, F-M’s firepower proved too much as it held off the Bees 16-13.
All through the first half, both sides found it difficult to contain each other, one scoring frenzy matched by another. Despite its porous defense, though, the Hornets did edge in front, 9-8, by intermission.
Ultimately, the torrid pace went in F-M’s favor, with Cramer leading the way as she scored five times and added three assists, with Kiera Shanley also getting five goals to go with her lone assist.
Addonizio had two goals, with Katie Shanley getting a goal and two assists. Steigerwald, Angello and Noel had the other goals. For B’ville, Peyton Fleming, Emma States and Katie Pascale had three goals apiece as Sara Goodwin got two goals and two assists.
F-M’s boys lacrosse team had its own big game against Baldwinsville, who had knocked out the Hornets in last spring’s Section III Class A semifinal on the way to a sectional title, last Wednesday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Looking for a bit of payback, the Hornets nearly got it, erasing a three-goal deficit in the third quarter, only to get shut out late in an 8-7 defeat to the Bees.
From the outset, it was an uneven contest with plenty of mistakes on both ends. That benefited F-M, who twice fell behind and twice caught up thanks to goals by Tom Farry and Zach Nestor, and only trailed 3-2 at halftime.
Even when B’ville stretched out its lead to 5-2 early in the third quarter, the Hornets kept its poise and, sparked by back-to-back goals by Nick Papa, roared back.
Chris Lubrino tied it, 5-5, and in a man-up situation in the last minute of the period Lubrino and Jack Shanley both converted, giving F-M a 7-5 lead with one quarter.
But Peter Fiorini sparked B’ville’s comeback with an end-to-end run and goal early in the final period. Then, with the score 7-7 after Adam Davis tied it, Fiorini picked up a ground ball at midfield, charged in from the left side and converted with 2:01 left with what proved to be the game-winner.
F-M had a couple of chances to tie it. But J.J. Johnson made his 13th save of the night on Papa’s shot in the final minute, and a last-second chance flew wide.
Now the Hornets looked to recover when it visited Liverpool Friday night, but again the Hornets could not hold on to a fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime to the Warriors 10-9.
Much like the B’ville game, F-M struggled early and trailed, 7-3, at halftime, only to blank Liverpool in the third quarter and pull within one, 7-6, before seizing the lead in the fourth quarter.
Yet the Warriors pulled out of its struggles just in time, seeing Cabry Hildmann net the tying goal late in regulation and then, in overtime, having Ben Root put in the game-winner. Both of them had two goals, along with Kyle Caves, Jacob Fahey and Ryan McGowan.
Shanley led all scorers with four goals, adding an assist. Nestor scored twice as Farry, Kyle Gilroy and Mike Porter put in single goals and Papa contributed an assist.
