ONONDAGA COUNTY – Within the span of a week, the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team had an opportunity to gain the upper hand against two local rivals.
Having already defeated Marcellus 9-6 on April 29, the Lakers went after Westhill last Thursday night at Hyatt Stadium, but could not complete the area sweep as the Warriors prevailed 13-9.
Three different Westhill players picked up hat tricks, led by Luke Gilmartin, who augmented his three goals by piling up four assists.
Griffin Grooms and Kyle Rosenberger also scored three times, with Will Delano matching Gilmartin’s four assists as he joined Sean Rogers, James Schneider and Emmet Starowicz getting single goals.
On the Lakers’ side, Grayson Brunelle netted three goals, with Ryan Willard and Colin Morrissey each finding the net twice. Jack Weeks and Max Wamp had the other goals as Luke Renaud made 12 saves, but Westhill goalie Owen Mahar stopped 13 shots.
Westhill arrived at this game fresh off a tough 13-12 victory over Tully last Tuesday that saw the Warriors keep its poise even after the Black Knights erased a 7-5 halftime advantage with a strong third quarter.
They went to the final period 10-10, and would go back and forth again before Westhill inched in front and stayed there, propelled to a large degree by Gilmartin, who had four assists to go with his three goals.
Schneider also scored three times, with Grooms getting two goals and two assists. Delano and Rosenberger had their own two-goal outings as Lane Edinger and Tom Berry each led Tully with four goals and two assists.
Contrast this to what Skaneateles went through at Christian Brothers Academy that same night, the Lakers blitzed in the first half of a 17-3 loss to the Brothers.
Angry at a May 1 defeat to Jamesville-DeWitt, CBA took it out on the Lakers, netting eight goals in a span of eight minutes in the first quarter and extending its margin to 11-0 by halftime.
Only in the third quarter did Skanetaeles produce anything with single goals from Brunelle, Willard and Weeks. Renaud and Brendan McGowan combined for 17 saves, but CBA had too much as seven different players scored at least twice, with Andrew Kohlbrenner (three goals, three assists) leading the attack.
Marcellus, who had started 0-2 including that defeat to Skaneateles, broke into the win column last Tuesday when it went to Jordan-Elbridge and cruised past the Eagles 15-6.
Bolting to a 13-1 edge by halftime, the Mustangs spread its production around. Doryn LeClair and Marcus Darminio each scored three times, with LeClair adding a pair of assists.
Ryan Moses had two goals and two assists, with Will Burnett and Sean Tierney also finding the net twice as Dieter Steigerwald, Adam Rayfield and Gavin Ciota also earned goals. Griffin LaFleur and Nixon Karcz led J-E with two goals apiece as Wyatt Mullen and Nick Long had the other goals.
J-E went from there to fall 22-5 to General Brown on Thursday, with Karcz, LaFleur, Mullen, Nick Long and Caleb DeCola netting the Eagles’ goals. The Eagles lost 22-8 to Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.
As that went on, Westhill suffered its own setback, falling 10-9 to Auburn. The Maroons outscored the Warriors 4-2 in the third quarter to break out of a 4-4 tie and then held on late.
Delano, with four assists, and Gilmartin, with three assists, still were productive as Grooms picked up four goals. Gilmartin and Schneider had two goals apiece, while Auburn had seven different goal-scorers and goalie Jackson Sidall stopped 14 of Westhill’s 23 shots.
Skaneateles ended the week well, defeating Rome Free Academy 11-4 on Saturday night, led mostly by Brunelle, who poured in five goals and added an assist, and Morrissey, who scored three times and got three assists. Willard added a goal and three assists.
