In their own ways, both of the top-seeded West Genesee lacrosse teams felt plenty of pressure going into Thursday night’s pair of Section III Class A semifinal games, for different reasons.
For the boys Wildcats, it was all about getting one more title for retiring coaches Mike Messere and Bob Deegan. The girls Wildcats, on the other hand, were out to atone for recent post-season disappointments, including last year’s semifinal defeat to Baldwinsville.
So it only figured that, when they won, they were in completely different manners.
WG’s boys met Liverpool at Bragman Stadium, and despite a long layoff, the Wildcats jumped all over the no. 4 seed Warriors and were never seriously threatened on the way to a 16-5 victory.
Playing its first game in 14 days, the Wildcats did need a few minutes to get settled, but once Ryan Smith converted at the 4:09 mark, things started to click.
Smith scored twice in those early stages, with a Ryan Sheehan goal in between. Then, in a stretch of less than a minute late in the period, Liverpool got put away.
Anthony Datellas, Kevin Sheehan and Noah Sabatino all hit on goals, doubling WG’s margin, so even though Liverpool did convert in the waning seconds, it trailed 6-1, and would not fully recover.
Steadily, the Wildcats worked its margin to 10-2 by halftime and didn’t relax one bit, outscoring the Warriors 4-3 in an active third period to prevent any hopes for a comeback.
Datellas finished the night with four goals, while Jack Howes had three goals and one assist. Kevin Sheehan earned three assists as Sabatino scored twice and single goals went to Max Rosa, John Bergan and Derek Pettinelli.
Meanwhile, at Fayetteville-Manlius, West Genesee’s girls took on no. 4 seed Cicero-North Syracuse, with whom it had split two regular-season meetings, in its sectional semifinal, and it was anything but easy – but the Wildcats hung on to win, 6-5.
Things were relatively normal in the first half. Matisyn Schaut got WG on the board with a pair of early goals, aided by a tally from Mackenzie Meager, all before C-NS could get on the board.
Then Phoebe Nelson initiated another Wildcats run, followed by Emily Stratton’s goal and then Schaut converting for the third time, all within the game’s first 15 minutes.
And WG would not score again.
Whether it was contentment or just a strong Northstars defense starting to establish itself, WG started to see its margin erode late in the half, C-NS converting twice and moving within 6-3 by halftime.
What was more, the Wildcats couldn’t break out of that slump anywhere in the second half. That gave the Northstars ample time to make up the rest of the ground, Brenna Duffy scoring with 16:32 left to make it 6-4.
When Jessica Meneilly found the net with 9:58 to play, WG’s lead was down to one, but its defense would save the season. Back-line players Meredith Bartlett, Emma Parry and Madison Smith remained poised, and goalie Madison Fox, twice, made point-blank stops, including one with a minute to play.
And this leads the Wildcats to SUNY-Cortland for Tuesday night’s sectional final against defending champion Christian Brothers Academy, who rallied past Baldwinsville 8-6 in the other semifinal.
A night later, at C-NS, it’s WG’s boys against a very familiar opponent in the Class A title game. Fayetteville-Manlius used a fourth-quarter comeback to knock off defending champion B’ville 8-7, so one more time Messere and Deegan will coach against the Hornets in the area’s most storied lacrosse rivalry.
