With each win, and each round, the Westhill boys lacrosse team keeps reaching new milestones, and only one thing remains – the state Class C championship.
On the same St. John Fisher College turf in Pittsford where the state title will get decided, the Warriors had an easy time of it in Wednesday night’s state Class C semifinal, rolling past Section VI champion West Seneca East 17-3.
In total contrast to the tense, close battles it waged to beat Jamesville-DeWitt and Homer for its first-ever Section III title, Westhill has easily handled both of its state tournament games so far.
A 16-9 victory over Johnson City in the June 2 regional final brought the Warriors to St. John Fisher, where West Seneca East, a school from the Buffalo suburbs, was also in the state semifinals for the first time.
Both schools brought white uniforms, but since Westhill was designated as the home team, West Seneca East had to borrow black and red jerseys from St. John Fisher instead of its usual green and gold.
Regardless of who was wearing what color, the Trojans had not faced, on a consistent basis, the sort of opposition Westhill had dealt with, and it didn’t take long for the Warriors to assume total control as it inched to a 3-1 lead by the end of the first quarter.
During the second period, Westhill constantly won face-offs and turned those extra possessions into goals – six in a row before halftime to make it 9-1, and that margin kept growing during the second half.
All through the game, when the Warriors’ forwards made cuts to the net, teammates were able to find them for wide-open shots and conversions.
Twelve of the Warriors’ 17 goals were assisted, with Luke McAnaney putting up four assists as Owen Matukas had three assists, with Jack Grooms getting two assists. Reilly Sizing and Will Delano each had one assist.
Sizing and Charlie Bolesh notched three-goal hat tricks as McAnaney, Grooms, Matukas and Delano each scored twice. Single goals went to Ryan Gilmartin, Mack Etoll and Brian Costello.
Now it’s to the state final, where on Saturday at 5:30 the Warriors will face Islip, from Long Island. The Buccaneers defeated Pelham 14-4 in the other semifinal at the University at Albany. Islip, like Westhill, is in pursuit of a first-ever state championship.
