Whenever it had to face them in the past, the Westhill boys lacrosse team never had an easy time with Skaneateles, and more often than not walked away with a defeat on the ledger.
But the 2018 season has proven quite different. Already Marcellus owned a lopsided win over the Lakers (14-5 on April 20) and, last Tuesday the state Class C no. 10-ranked Warriors joined them, taking over in the second quarter and prevailing by a 17-4 margin.
It was already a 4-3 lead through one period, but the Warriors were far from satisfied. Winning faceoffs and taking apart the Skaneateles defense, it closed the half with nine unanswered goals to make it 13-3.
The rest proved academic, Jack Grooms working his total to four goals and four assists as Luke McAnaney was close behind, scoring four times and adding three assists.
Charlie Bolesh had his own four-goal outing, with Will Delano getting three goals and two assists. Mack Etoll had one goal and one assist as Reilly Sizing got a goal and Owen Matukas contributed an assist. Goalie Liam Felter stopped 12 of the 16 shots he faced.
Marcellus, meanwhile, was picking up some mid-season momentum. As a follow-up to its win over Skaneateles, the Mustangs won big again last Monday, taking down Tully 16-9.
The game was tied, 3-3, when Marcellus, foreshadowing Westhill’s run against the Lakers a day later, netted eight goals in the second quarter to zoom out in front for good.
Then the Mustangs built upon that 11-6 halftime lead by improving its defense around goalie Rob Seeley, who made 13 saves and watched Gabe VanOrder have a part in half the scoring plays thanks to four goals and four assists.
Liam Tierney had three goals and two assists, with Emmett Barry and Matt Connell also getting three-goal hat tricks. Matt Reich had a goal and two assists as Luke Ingianni and Matt Crysler found the net, too.
Two days later, Marcellus hosted Carthage, who had just beaten Cazenovia in double overtime earlier in the week. But that didn’t seem to bother the Mustangs, who rode a big second-quarter surge to defeating the Comets 9-7.
Through one period, Marcellus trailed 2-0, but for the rest of the half it dominated in the face-off circle and surged through the Comets’ defenses, outscoring them 7-1.
This, plus 12 saves from Seeley, allowed the Mustangs to survive a third-quarter shutout and hang on late. Connell had three goals and Reich got three assists, with Barry and Crysler getting two goals apiece. VanOrder had a goal and two assists and Tierney added an assist.
As that went on, Westhill had its own game with Tully and rolled to a 15-6 victory, getting away in the middle stages as it outscored the Black Knights 9-2 in the second and third quarters.
McAnaney and Grooms could not be contained as McAnaney got five goals and five assists, with Grooms adding four goals and five assists. Matukas had two goals and two assists, with Delano and Bolesh also notching two goals and Sizing earning an assist.
Bishop Ludden/Onondaga had faced Cazenovia last Tuesday at Cazenovia College’s Christakos Field, catching them at the wrong time and taking a 16-2 defeat.
That double-OT defeat to Carthage had angered the Lakers, who took it out on Ludden/OCS. Cazenovia built a 13-1 lead through three quarters, led by Thomas Bragg, who by himself found the net eight times.
All that Ludden/OCS could manage was single goals by Matt Delany and Kathehliyo Smith, with assists going to Mac Mulhern and Zach Delany. Chris Hurley, in the net, finished with nine saves.
Up against state Class D no. 3-ranked CBA on Thursday, Ludden/OCS held its own for a while, playing the Brothers to a 5-5 halftime tie before things got away in the second half of a 13-7 defeat.
Matt Delany, with three goals and two assists, led Ludden/OCS as Zach Delany had a goal and three assists. Bailey Martin scored twice, with Jared Wood adding a goal. Hurley managed 13 saves, but CBA won with four goals apiece from Ryan Mackenzie and Preston Taylor, plus three goals from Patrick O’Brien.
