When the Westhill boys lacrosse team defeated its neighbors from Marcellus 11-8 on April 12, it improved to 5-1 on the season and moved up to no. 10 in the state Class C rankings.
Then both of these sides met Section V power Penn Yan in consecutive games – and both lost by the same 5-4 margin, Marcellus doing so on April 14 and Westhill meeting that same fate three days later.
Trailing Penn Yan 2-0 after one quarter, the Warriors got on the board in the game’s middle stages and tied it, 4-4, only to get shut out again in the fourth quarter as Penn Yan inched back in front and stayed there.
Meanwhile, a round-robin among local teams continued, with Marcellus turning to face Bishop Ludden/Onondaga and halting that side’s win streak with the Mustangs earning an emphatic 18-9 victory.
Liam Tierney and Matt Crysler put in four goals apiece, leading Marcellus as Gabe VanOrder contributed three goals and three assists. Matt Reich also had three assists as Emmett Barry scored three times. Rob Lobello and Sean Madden got single goals, with assists going to Sean Tierney and Rob Seeley.
For Ludden/OCS, Bailey Martin, Matt Delany and Ethan Gentile got two goals apiece. Zach Delany had a goal and three assists, with Jared Wood and Mac Mulhern also finding the net. Jason Holbrook got an assist. Chris Hurley earned 12 saves.
Then Ludden/OCS, with its own 5-2 record, would face Westhill Friday at Henninger High School’s Sunnycrest Field, and the Warriors got the best of it, easily rolling to a 15-4 victory.
Things were decided early, Westhill bolting out to a 9-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. Will Delano and Luke McAnaney led that charge, Delano getting five goals and one assist and McAnaney adding four goals and two assists.
Owen Matukas scored twice, adding an assist, while Jack Grooms and Charlie Bolesh each got a goal and two assists. Mack Etoll had one goal and one assist and Ryan Gilmartin also found the net.
On Ludden/OCS’s side, only Ethan Gentile scored twice, with Zach Delany getting a goal and two assists. Bailey Martin had the other goal and Mulhern contributed an assist as Hurley got eight saves.
As that went on, Marcellus would face another big rival, Skaneateles, on Friday night, and enjoy as successful an evening as it has ever enjoyed against them, bashing the Lakers 14-5.
Years of mostly taking lopsided defeats to its neighbors made the Mustangs hungry, and it tore through the Skaneateles defense throughout the first half, steadily working its way to a 9-4 lead.
Not content with that, Marcellus blanked the Lakers in the third quarter, extended its lead to 12-4 and settled matters as Connell had three goals and two assists, with VanOrder getting two goals and three assists and Seeley stopping 17 of the 22 shots he faced.
Barry also had a three-goal hat trick, with Crysler and Luke Ingianni also converting twice. Tierney and Lobello each had one goal and one assist as Reich contributed three assists.
Westhill played at Auburn on Saturday, its second game in less than 24 hours, but handled that challenge, beating the Maroons 8-6 as it bolted out to a 7-2 advantage by halftime and then held on late.
Grooms and Delano did most of that early damage, as Grooms finished with four goals and Delano got three goals, plus an assist. Matukas earned the other goal as McAnaney contributed a pair of assists.
Back on Thursday night, Jordan-Elbridge did play, against Manlius-Pebble Hill, and the young Eagles earned its third victory of the season, handling the Trojans 12-3.
A five-goal first quarter set the tone as Wade Brunelle, who scored three times, led a well-balanced attack. Deacon Hill and Riordan Parker each had two goals and two assists, with Tyler Fietta also finding the net twice. Cole Mullen and Luke Pinckney both got one goal and one assist as Joel Blasko added a goal and Trent Thomas had an assist.
But the Eagles lost Saturday to South Jefferson 15-5, this despite gaining a 4-3 lead by the end of the first quarter. Brunelle scored twice, with Parker and Pinckney each getting one goal and one assist. Ethan Fraser also converted.
