Even if the path to a Section III boys lacrosse championship proved easier for Fayetteville-Manlius in Class B than when it was part of the Class A ranks, achieving a championship is always something to savor.
And for this group of Hornets, the feeling of joyfully sprinting onto the field as sectional champions was new to them, since the last sectional title for the program came in 2016.
The program’s sixth overall sectional crown was attained Friday night at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, where top-seeded F-M was challenged for a while by no. 2 seed Auburn, but steadily got away and beat the Maroons 13-4.
Auburn was trying to get back on top, too, having not earned a sectional championship since 2001 and having taken defeats to East Syracuse Minoa each of the last two years in this same Class B title game.
Yet the Maroons, who lost to the Hornets by that same 13-4 margin when these teams met April 27, were never going to have a chance if it didn’t get the ball, which F-M, led by face-off specialist Logan Wilkinson, was able to accomplish throughout the game’s early stages.
It took nearly four minutes for Jordan Leuze to put the Hornets on the board, but Jack Shanley followed with a goal, followed by back-to-back tallies from Vince Cogliandro that stretched the margin to 4-0 before the first quarter ended.
When Zach Nestor converted twice in the second quarter and F-M’s defense continued to confound Auburn, all looked fine – but then Joey Leonti and Lucas Hogan found the net in the last 90 seconds of the half.
Suddenly, a comfortable margin was only 6-2 going into the break, and when F-M’s drought stretched deep into the second half, it was vulnerable to a Maroons charge, should one ever take place.
It did not, though, and Mike Howe struck midway through the third quarter. Hogan answered it, but Pratt Reynolds got a crucial goal with 28 seconds left in the third quarter, it proved a back-breaker to Auburn.
Howe converted just 23 seconds into the final period to make it 10-4, and three more goals followed as the Hornets blanked Auburn the rest of the way.
F-M now could look ahead to the state tournament, which commences next Saturday at 12:30 when the Hornets meet Section IV champion Vestal in the Class B regional final at Corning.
