On its way to a 6-0 start, the Liverpool boys lacrosse team had endured plenty of challenges, from the quality of its opposition to the brutal April weather, everything from heavy rains to heavy snows.
Yet there was one obstacle – a rash of injuries and illnesses – that led to the Warriors’ first setback last Thursday night at LHS Stadium as it got overwhelmed by West Genesee in a 15-3 defeat.
Liverpool, no. 16 in last week’s state Class A rankings, was without two key offensive players, Cabry Hildman and Ryan McGowan, and also was missing midfielders Devin Dewane and Ian Conroy.
Also, it caught state no. 8-ranked West Genesee at a bad time, the Wildcats having just taken its first loss of the season to Baldwinsville two days earlier in a rematch of the 2017 Section III Class A final that the Bees won.
Bent on bouncing back, WG ignored the snow that covered the LHS Stadium turf and the cold, biting wind to dominate the first half, turning Liverpool’s frequent turnovers into constant possession and an 8-0 advantage.
It got to 11-0 in the third quarter before the Warriors finally got on the board, Kyle Caves scoring twice and Jake Piseno adding a goal. Still, WG didn’t get caught, overcoming Cole Zaferakis’ eight saves as 11 different Wildcats players would contribute goals.
Before all this, Liverpool hosted Syracuse City last Tuesday night, starting out in normal conditions but then dealing with lots of snow in the second half on the way to beating the Cougars 11-6.
Back when they met in the 2017 sectional playoffs, Liverpool overcame a 12-3 deficit to stun Syracuse 14-13 in overtime. Nothing like that happened here, with the Warriors leading from the outset.
Things were normal in the first half, and Liverpool worked its way to a 5-2 advantage. Somehow, the snow that fell only made the Warriors more effective, the lead growing to 8-3 by the end of the third period.
Hildmann, before he got injured, dealt best with the conditions, netting five goals as Connor Jones stepped up for a three-goal hat trick. Kyle Caves had two goals as Jacob Fahey had a goal and two assists. Conroy, Piseno and Ben Root also earned assists.
When the sun returned on Saturday, so did Hildmann and McGowan – and so did Liverpool’s winning form against Class D contender General Brown.
The Warriors tamed the Lions 14-7, settling matters early by bolting out to an 8-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and stretching the margin to 11-3 by halftime.
Hildmann showed his value by pouring in five goals, while McGowan had a goal and two assists. Jones and Lukas McIlroy both had two goals as Fahey again got a goal and two assists. Root and Cade Clouthier contributed single goals.
While all this was going on, Cicero-North Syracuse dealt with that same snow at Fayetteville-Manlilus and was stopped cold in a 12-3 loss to the Hornets.
F-M, furious from back-to-back one-goal defeats to Liverpool and B’ville, took it out on the Northstars, steadily gaining a 7-3 lead by halftime and then blanking C-NS in the last two periods as the field conditions worsened.
First-half goals by Josh Pickard, Austin VanDewalker and Joel Firth were all that the Northstars could manage as F-M’s pair of goalies, Ben Hammond and Josh VanValkenburgh, made 11 saves between them. Nick Papa led the Hornets’ offense with four goals and one assist as Tommy Farry added three goals.
And now C-NS had to face Baldwinsville on Thursday night at Bragman Stadium, where the snow was worse than it was at Liverpool, turning into something close to a blizzard by game’s end.
That kept things close, but the Northstars still lost, 9-6, to the Bees, unable to get any single player going when such a thing might have led to an upset.
Instead, six different players – Firth, Justin Griffith, Brody Guido, Jon Abbott, Peyton Watts and Nate Scarlata – notched goals, and Brian Jobin kept things tight with his 14 saves. For B’ville, Pete Fiorini and Austin Bolton each had three assists as Fiorini and Spencer Wirtheim got two goals apiece.
