It was a weekend where the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team got the better of its neighbors from Fayetteville-Manlius, but both had reason to feel proud.
True, the Red Rams beat the Hornets last Saturday in a 7-6 thriller, but F-M had, one night earlier, secured the outright SCAC Metro division regular-season title when it routed Cicero-North Syracuse 19-5.
The Hornets went 7-1 in league play, beating out Baldwinsville’s 6-2 mark, with the difference coming from the Hornets sweeping Liverpool and the Bees only getting a split with the Warriors.
In the league clincher, F-M pulled away from C-NS early, building a 10-2 halftime advantage and spreading things around as Jack Shanley had four goals and one assist, with Mike Howe adding three goals and one assist.
Vince Coligandro, Pratt Reynolds and Jordan Leuze each had two goals and two assists, with K.C. Miller and Joe Puccia also scoring twice. Zach Nestor and Charlie Josephson added single goals.
None of this mattered much to J-D, who aimed to match what its girls counterparts did when it beat F-M one week earlier, and it did so in a tense, low-scoring classic.
The Hornets led through much of the first half, but it only converted on one of five man-up situations. Down 3-1, J-D tied it with goals by Tanner Burns and Pat Murad 10 seconds apart before a Shanley goal pushed F-M back in front 4-3 at halftime.
A big reason why the Rams stayed close was the work of its defense. Josh Duby, Kenny Hildreth, Sahil Seth and the rest of the back line maintained their poise, and Jamison MacLachlan made a string of big stops on his way to 16 saves overall.
Neither team led by more than one in the second half, and they were tied again, 6-6, when Matt Kemmis, off a feed from Connor Durkin (his fourth assist of the game), converted with 9:01 left.
And though the Rams didn’t add to this lead, its defense preserved that slim margin, including a last-second stop that kept F-M from forcing overtime. To lead the attack, Murad, Burns and Will Davis had two goals apiece.
In what proved to be the pivotal game in the SCAC Metro race, F-M went to Liverpool last Tuesday and having to work all the way to the wire to edge past the Warriors 6-5.
This proved a tribute to the Hornets’ resistance. Zak Conley, Andrew Corbin, Luke Stratton and the rest of F-M’s back line was superb in the second half, limiting Liverpool to a single goal as Ben Hammond and Jack Van Valkenburgh combined for 14 saves.
Trailing 4-3 at halftime, F-M went in front with three unanswered goals in the third quarter and held on from there, having seen Shanley and Miller each score twice, with Mike Howe and Max Cramer both get one goal and one assist.
Meanwhile, J-D, who had taken its first loss of the season May 4 in a 10-9 overtime defeat to Fairport despite five assists from Davis and three goals apiece from Durkin and Matt Kemmis, rolled through two SCAC Empire division opponents, romping past Cortland and Fulton.
The Red Rams shut out Cortland 13-0 last Tuesday, limiting the Purple Tigers to four shots all game.
Davis and Matt Kemmis each had three goals and two assists, with Durkin getting two goals and three assists. Burns got a goal and three assists as Johnny Keib scored twice. Tyler Brang and Matt Bradford also had goals.
An 18-1 win over Fulton followed, this one with Davis and Matt Kemmis each netting three goals as Burns, Keib and Josh Greenway scored twice. Bradford, Nick Kemmis and Tom Sabatino each had one goal and one assist.
