ONONDAGA COUNTY – Twice in a span of three days, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool boys lacrosse teams would meet up with one another at LHS Stadium, renewing the intense rivalry between the two schools.
And it was the Northstars getting the best of this battle, prevailing by a score of 14-4 over the Warriors for its first win under the direction of its new head coach, Nick Gatto.
C-NS jumped out in front early and then kept Liverpool off the board in the second quarter. Then it built upon its 5-2 halftime advantage with an attack that seemed to gain confidence as the afternoon progressed.
Mason Blakeman scored five times to top the Warriors by himself, with Ian Leahey and Mason Ciciarelli each getting three-goal hat tricks as Anthony Cimino dished out five assists.
La’Quan Lemon and Tyler Mazolli joined Cimino with single goals as Giovanni Heater stopped 11 of 15 shots. In defeat, Liverpool got goals from Jackson Furr, Owen Michaud, Aaron Clouthier and Joe Sacco.
They both arrived at this game with plenty to work on, for different reasons.
C-NS was adjusting to life under Gatto, a long-time assistant at Onondaga Community College under Chuck Wilbur, who had returned to serve on Gatto’s staff as a volunteer assist.
Together, their task was to turn a struggling Northstars program around, and their opening game was a severe one against a Fayetteville-Manlius side which stomped West Genesee 18-7 two nights earlier.
A quick, energetic start led to a 3-2 C-NS lead through one period, but while the Northstars’ effort never waned, the overall quality of the Hornets soon showed itself.
Still, the 16-10 defeat had plenty of good spots for C-NS, ranging from Blakeman’s four goals to Ciciarelli getting two goals and two assists.
Leahey also scored twice as Anthony Cimino got two assists, with Nolan Firth and Elijah Martin also earning goals. Heater made 10 saves as F-M got six goals from Ransom Reynolds and five goals from Caden Yancey.
As for Liverpool, a massive blow was struck before the season when Brendan Mancuso, expected to be one of the Warriors’ mainstays, broke his leg in the controversial April 9 football clash with C-NS.
Still trying to figure out its attack, the Warriors had to travel to reigning sectional Class A champion Baldwinsville for last Tuesday night’s opener at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, whee it lost 14-4 to the Warriors.
During the first half, Liverpool kept it within range. Furr scored twice, while Clouthier had one goal and one assist. Nick Toscano also got a goal, with assists to Sacco and Jalen Graham.
But the Bees shut out the Warriors in the last two quarters. And despite Mark Matott’s 10 saves, Liverpool had a difficult time stopping B’ville forward Keegan Lynch, who led his side with five goals and one assist.
Meeting West Genesee on Thursday, Liverpool dealt with a Wildcats side seething over its season-opening 18-7 loss to F-M and determined not to let that happen again.
The Warriors fell 16-8 to the Wildcats despite Furr’s three goals and one assist. Clouthier scored twice, with Sacco, Graham and Owen Atchie also netting goals as Toscano and Dominick Osbeck earned assists.
Between them, Matott and Owen Salanger had 13 saves, yet WG won with a well-balanced attack where Alex Rosa and Pat Linton each got three goals, with Braeden McNeill and Nick Louise each getting two goals and two assists.
