Each of the Fayetteville-Manlius lacrosse teams found themselves perched in the no. 5 spot of the initial state Class B rankings of the 2019 season.
The boys Hornets were there despite a 16-5 thrashing by Baldwinsville on April 13, but it recovered from that effort with back-to-back league wins last week, capped by Thursday night’s 13-10 victory over Liverpool.
What made this more impressive was that these same Warriors had rallied to defeat Baldwinsville 13-12 two nights earlier, so Liverpoool arrived at this game sporting a 5-1 record and plenty of confidence.
They played to a 2-2 draw in the first quarter, but for the rest of the half F-M toyed with Liverpool’s defense, not letting up until it had built a 7-3 advantage.
Even when the Warriors fought back to within one, 9-8, entering the fourth quarter, the Hornets were able to maintain its poise and respond well in the homestretch, its attack led by Jack Shanley, Mike Howe and Zach Nestor.
Shanley scored five times, adding an assist, with Howe getting three goals and one assist. Nestor had two goals and three assists as Josh Michel, Jordan Leuze and Pratt Reynolds had one goal apiece. K.C. Miller had an assist.
Between them, Jack Van Valkenburgh and Ben Hammond made 12 saves, two more than Liverpool’s Cole Zaferakis had by himself. In defeat, Kyle Caves led the Warriors with four goals and one assist.
This completed an F-M sweep of Liverpool, for on Thursday afternoon the girls Hornets made its way to LHS Stadium and utilized its skill and depth to defeat the Warriors 19-11.
Ignoring Liverpool’s solid 4-1 record, F-M steadily chipped away at the Warriors’ defenses, and then in the second half pulled far away from the 10-6 margin it established in the first 25 minutes.
In particular, Annie Steigerwald tormented Liverpool, scoring six times and adding a pair of assists, while Kiera Shanley had three goals.
Three others – Maddie Noel, Katie Shanley and Tomlin Cicci – each finished with two goals and one assist. Kaylee Steigerwald contributed two assists and Ava Angello added a goal.
Now the F-M girls joined the boys for a Saturday doubleheader against Section V’s Pittsford, and it proved quite memorable as both sets of Hornets pulled out dramatic one-goal victories over the visiting Panthers.
Going first, the F-M girls and Pittsford traded goals and leads throughout the first half, but the Panthers moved in front 8-6 by intermission and stretched that margin to 12-7 deep into the second half.
But the Hornets stormed back with five unanswered goals, tying it 12-12 when Noel converted with 3:18 left. A minute later, Ellie Mooney put Pittsford back in front, but Kiera Shanley, fed by Annie Steigerwald, pulled F-M even again with 1:19 to play.
The all-important scramble for the ball went to F-M, and it worked the ball around until, with 16.1 seconds left, Steigerwald put in the game-winner as the Hornets prevailed 14-13.
That game-winner was Steigerwald’s fifth goal, to go with two assists, as Kiera Shanley managed six goals, Noel and Angello also finding the net. Each of Natalie Cassalia’s six saves proved important, too.
When it was the boys turn, Nestor led F-M at the outset, netting three goals as the Hornets jumped out 4-1 before Pittsford made a second-quarter charge, tying it, 4-4.
Then the Panthers seized a 6-5 edge in the third quarter, but Nestor and Howe turned that around with goals less than two minutes apart, and Howe converted again 25 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Now up 8-6, F-M had to hang on with its defense, which mostly blanked Pittsford down the stretch, only surrendering one goal as Van Valkenburgh made a crucial save in the final minute to preserve the Hornets’ 8-7 win.
Before all this, F-M’s boys had handled Syracuse 14-4 last Tuesday night, breaking away with an 8-2 second-quarter run as Nestor led the way, piling up four goals and three assists.
Shanley scored twice, with Max Cramer and Logan Wilkinson each earning a goal and assist. Michel, Miller, Howe, Reynolds and Luke Stratton had one goal apiece.
