All through the early portion of its season, the Marcellus boys lacrosse team had pulled off a series of close victories, three of them within a six-day span against Skaneateles, Westhill and Cicero-North Syracuse.
But in last Tuesday game at Tully, it was the Mustangs on the wrong end of such a result as it lost, 7-6, to the Black Knights in a game it led late in the fourth quarter.
A low-scoring first half left the two sides tied, 3-3, but Marcellus appeared to gain control in the third quarter as it went out in front 6-4, Marcus Darminio getting two goals as Zac VanGorder, Luke Ingianni, Liam Tierney and Emmett Barry got single goals.
Yet the Mustangs could not add to that margin, and Tully tied it, 6-6, with consecutive goals by Tyler Edinger. Finally, with 15 seconds left in regulation, freshman Lane Edinger shoved a shot past Rob Seeley, who to that point had recorded 18 saves.
Two nights later, Marcellus hosted LaFayette, and had yet another close call, but this time got the best of it as it rallied for an 11-10 victory over the Lancers.
LaFayette scored the game’s first three goals and maintained that advantage the rest of the first half. Then, trailing 8-4 in the third quarter, the Mustangs fought back, eventually gaining a 10-9 lead early in the final period.
Skariwate Papineau’s goal pulled the Lancers back even, 10-10, but Darminio answered with 4:30 left and, throughout the homestretch, the Marcellus defense kept making big stops as Seeley worked his total to 16 saves.
Prior to Darminio’s goal, four others had carried the attack, Powell and Ingianni each netting three goals as Ingianni got two assists. Barry and Sean Tierney both scored twice.
Westhill, bouncing back from its defeat to Marcellus, hosted Carthage last Tuesday night and handled the Comets 15-4, all but settling the outcome by jumping out to a 7-0 lead before the first quarter ended.
Will Delano led that early charge, eventually producing six goals and one assist as Reilly Sizing got two goals and four assists. Charlie Bolesh and Jack Grooms each scored three times, Bolesh getting three assists as Jack Mooney added a single goal. Grooms, Mack Etoll and Ryan Gilmartin had one assist apiece.
When Marcellus faced Carthage on Saturday afternoon, the Mustangs got shut down in a 5-2 defeat. Powell and Liam Tierney had the only goals, Ingianni held to a single assist, and everything else got turned back as Comets goalie Noah Parks had nine saves.
Meanwhile, Westhill had its own battle with Tully and its own result, too, outlasting the Black Knights 14-12 with a big fourth quarter that saw the Warriors go on a 6-2 spurt to overcome Tully’s 10-8 advantage.
Bolesh had much to do with it, his three goals and four assists part of a balanced front line. Sizing had four goals and one assist, with Delano and Gilmartin each matching Bolesh’s three-goal output and Delano adding two assists. Jack Mooney had the other goal.
Elsewhere, Skaneateles and Jordan-Elbridge both faced reigning two-time sectional Class D champion Christian Brothers Academy, with the same results.
In the Lakers’ case, it was a 15-11 defeat, mostly engineered in a first half where the Brothers built an 8-4 advantage, which allowed it to withstand Skaneateles closing the gap to 11-9 by the end of the third quarter.
John Danforth and Grayson Brunelle each managed three goals, with Pat Hackler getting two goals and three assists. Brendan Powers, Evan Brunelle and Nick Wamp had one goal apiece as, for CBA, Wyatt Auyer and Preston Taylor each had four goals, Colin Kelly adding three goals as Ryan Mackenzie produced five assists.
Before that, J-E lost 21-3 to CBA, unable to recover from a second quarter where the Brothers netted nine unanswered goals.
Wade Brunelle scored twice for the Eagles and Ricky Hill had the other goal, Jeremiah Sparks adding two assists. Kolby Humberstone and Steve Tripp combined for 11 saves as Auyer and Sam Bonacci led CBA with four goals apiece.
Skaneateles closed out the week by defeating Cazenovia 18-11 on Saturday afternoon at Cazenovia College’s Christakos Field. Evan Brunelle had four goals, with Hackler and Grayson Brunelle each earning two goals and three assists.
Danforth had three goals and one assist, with Wamp and Ben Spinelli each earning one goal and one assist. Colin Weeks and Will McGlynn also scored, Cazenovia losing despite a game-high five goals from Brian Pezzi.
