Even though they both will find themselves part of the Section III Class A playoffs, the boys lacrosse teams at Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse will go there as challengers, knowing something special is needed for a championship.
For Liverpool, the path is not as steep, as it demonstrated again in last Tuesday’s game against visiting Fayetteville-Manlius, where tremendous defense was not quite enough to turn back the Hornets in a 6-5 defeat.
Neither side would produce much for long stretches of the game. For a while, this played to the Warriors’ advantage, for it was able to inch out in front, 4-3, by halftime against an F-M side it lost to 13-10 in April.
But at the worst possible time, Liverpool hit a drought, blanked in the third quarter as the Hornets grabbed a 6-4 lead. And the visitors would hang on, even though the Warriors shut them out in the final period.
Much of the production came from Ryan McGowan, who had three goals, and Kyle Caves, who had a goal and three assists. Brendan Mancuso had the other goal, with Jacob Fahey and Jake Piseno getting assists.
Liam O’Neil had 14 saves, the same number as F-M’s goalie duo of Ben Hammond and Jack Van Valkenburgh. Jack Shanley and K.C. Miller led the Hornets with two goals apiece.
That same night, C-NS would face Baldwinsville at Bragman Stadium, and get overwhelmed from the outset as it lost 21-5 to the Bees.
Anthony Cimino was the lone Northstars player to score twice. Single goals went to Matt Cramer, Conner Lynch and Justin Griffith, with Josh Pickard adding an assist. Joe Bartolo and Austin O’Hara combined to make nine saves.
After a pair of good performances that did not translate into wins on the field, Liverpool did prevail 18-12 over Syracuse on Thursday night, outscoring the Cougars 11-1 over the course of the second and third quarters to establish a 15-4 advantage.
Despite some late struggles, the Warriors still won by a comfortable margin as McGowan got six assists and Caves added five assists, part of a well-balanced attack where only Aaron Clouthier netted three goals.
Caves, Devin Dewane, Jacob Fahey and Matt Jerman each had two goals, Dewane adding two assists. McGowan joined Piseno, Mancuso and Cade Clouthier in netting single goals. Ryan Eccles led Syracuse with four goals and two assists.
On Friday night, C-NS met Fayetteville-Manlius, who by defeating the Northstars 19-5 clinched the SCAC Metro division regular-season title, the Hornets’ 7-1 league mark just ahead of Baldwinsville’s 6-2.
Four unanswered goals in the second quarter put F-M further in control after it bolted out 6-2 in the opening period, with seven different Hornets earning multiple goals, led by Jack Shanley (four goals, one assist) and Mike Howe (three goals one assist).
Pickard did find the net twice for C-NS, while Griffith, Cramer and Jason Meigs had one goal apiece. Cimino added two assists as Bartolo and O’Hara made 13 combined saves.
With the loss, the Northstars fell to 5-9, still with games left early this week against Binghamton and Central Square as Liverpool (9-6) hosts West Genesee Tuesday, right before the Section III Class A playoff brackets would be revealed.
