If ever the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team wanted to win a Section III Class A championship, it was now, for reasons beyond their own sense of personal accomplishment.
For if the Hornets knock off West Genesee next Wednesday night at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, it will end the storied coaching careers of the Wildcats’ duo of Mike Messere and Bob Deegan, a feat that would be remembered for a lifetime.
Just to get this chance required F-M to erase a year’s worth of frustration caused by a particular opponent – which it did in last Thursday’s sectional semifinals when it made a big second-half comeback and knocked off defending champion Baldwinsville 8-7.
The boys Bees knocked off the Hornets in this same round in 2017 on the way to the title, and then beat F-M again in two close regular-season encounters this spring.
And as much as the Hornets felt it had improved since those games, B’ville was well-rested, and at least at the outset showed no signs of rust or nerves, smoothly building a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on goals by Adam Davis, Cole Peters and Mike Tangredi.
F-M’s Mike Howe put his team on the board just as the first quarter ended. That didn’t seem to mean much or affect the Bees at all since, for the rest of the half, it blanked the Hornets, Peters and Austin Bolton adding goals.
So it was 5-1 at the break, but as well as B’ville was doing, it hadn’t really put F-M away. So when the Hornets’ defense began to make key stops in the third quarter, momentum shifted.
Then it turned into a full rush when F-M scored twice late in the period, slicing the Bees’ lead in half. It carried over into the fourth quarter, where the Hornets quickly pulled even on a goal by Jack Shanley.
B’ville briefly went back in front thanks to Spencer Wirtheim’s goal, but in a 41-second sequence Howe tied it and Shanley converted with 7:30 left, giving F-M the lead for good.
Try as it could, the Bees could not pull back even. Shanley, with 1:33 left, stretched the Hornets’ advantage to 8-6, and it proved the game-winner, for though the Bees got a late goal from Davis, the Hornets’s Zach Van Valkenburgh got the faceoff and F-M ran out the clock, watching later as West Genesee handled Liverpool 16-5 in the other semifinal.
Shanley finished with three goals and two assists, with Nick Papa scoring twice and Chris Lubrino getting one goal. F-M’s defense did a superb job on B’ville’s most dangerous player, Pete Fiorini, holding him to a single assist.
Before this, F-M put away no. 6 seed Rome Free Academy 19-3 in its playoff opener, the result never in question as the Hornets steadily worked its way to a 16-1 halftime lead before putting in the reserves.
Lubrino had five goals and three assists, while Shanley and Papa each got three goals as Nate Fischi found the net twice. Tommy Farry and Zach Nestor each had one goal and one assist, while Kyle Gilroy, Luke Miranda, Carson Yancey and K.C. Miller earned goals, too, with Van Valkenburgh and Howe each getting a pair of assists.
