Each of the Fayetteville-Manlius lacrosse teams found themselves situated at no. 4 in their respective state Class B rankings, with a chance to perhaps improve those positions.
And the big chance for the girls Hornets arrived Thursday night as Baldwinsville, who at 8-0 had climbed to the top of the state Class A poll, arrived last Thursday night for a highly-anticipated rematch.
Earlier in the month, B’ville had edged F-M 11-10, and everyone expected the same type of duel here – and they got it, with the Hornets dominating long stretches of the game, yet still having to work all the way to the wire to beat the Bees 8-6.
One big difference from the first meeting was the way F-M handled draws. Freshman Ava Angello won the first five of them, leading to lots of extra possession time for the Hornets as it controlled matters in the first half.
It was 5-1 late in the half, and the only reason it wasn’t more lopsided was the fact that four F-M shots clanged off posts. Thus, Hornets fans had reason to worry after Emma States scored in the waning seconds to cut the advantage to 5-2 at the break.
For much of the second half, the Hornets maintained its cushion, buoyed by a defense that, led by Laura Bonomo and Christina Burnam, constantly frustrated B’ville into turnovers, or had shots turned back by Natalie Cassalia, who had seven saves.
Despite all this, the Bees rallied late in the second half. Hannah Johnson hit on back-to-back goals (her second and third of the game) to cut B’ville’s 7-3 deficit in half. Then Katie Pascale, from the point, converted a free-position shot with 3:26 left, and the Bees only trailed by one.
F-M kept its poise, though, and Angello won another draw, allowing the Hornets to burn some time before Annie Steigerwald found the net with 1:35 left and the Hornets made one more defensive stand to clinch it.
Katie Shanley led the way on offense, getting three goals and two assists. Kiera Shanley and Maddie Noel joined Angello and Steigerwald in earning single goals.
Before this, F-M had shaken off an uneven start at Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday to beat the Northstars 21-13 at Bragman Stadium, gradually pulling away to make up for four-goal outings by C-NS teammates Molly Molchanoff and Gabriela Ciciarelli.
Kiera Shanley scored six times, aided by three-goal hat tricks from Steigerwald, Katie Shanle and Sophia Melfi. Steigerwald also got three assists as Angelo and Tomlin Cicci each had two goals and one assist. Halle Daino and Madeline Herodes got their first goals of the season.
As for the F-M boys lacrosse team, it followed its dramatic April 20 win over Pittsford by claiming its own win over Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday night, though this one was a 12-8 decision.
Just like the girls, though, the boys Hornets did not start well, trailing 3-1 after one period before its attack got going, enough to inch in front 6-5 by halftime and then gradually pull away, though the Northstars stayed relatively close.
Zach Nestor scored three times, with Mike Howe getting two goals and two assists. Jack Shanley, Max Cramer and Vincent Cogliandro each had one goal and one assist as Evan Welling, Pratt Reynolds, Josh Michel and Caden Yancey had one goal apiece.
Still at home on Saturday night, F-M faced Auburn and rolled past the Maroons 13-4, pulling off a first-half shutout as it bolted out to a 9-0 advantage.
Howe, by himself, outscored Auburn with his five goals, while Shanley scored four times and got two assists. Nestor amassed five assists, with Leuze and Yancey each earning two assists and Joe Puccia getting two goals. Cramer and K.C. Miller had the other goals.
Preceding that game was the F-M girls’ first encounter with Auburn since last May’s sectional Class B final, and while it was competitive again, the Hornets once more prevailed, beating the Maroons 14-9.
A high-scoring first half left F-M clinging to an 8-7 edge, but the defense stepped up late as the Steigerwald and Shanley sisters carried the Hornets’ attack all game long.
Annie Steigerwald got six goals and two assists, with Kiera Shanley adding five goals and two assists. Katie Shanley had a goal and two assists as Kaylee Steigerwald converted twice.
Both of the F-M teams would take on West Genesee Tuesday, closing out their respective April slates as the boys Hornets also meet Syracuse and Victor this week, while the girls face CBA and Jamesville-DeWitt in a pair of neighborhood clashes.
