ONONDAGA COUNTY – This was quite a week for the Christian Brothers Academy boys lacrosse team, and it only partially had to do with what transpired on the field.
In the midst of the season’s busiest stretch, Brothers head coach Ric Beardsley submitted his resignation, citing personal reasons after a 10-year tenure where, among other things, he led CBA to the 2017 state Class D championship.
Assistant Shaun Kazimer took over as interim head coach, beginning last Saturday when CBA faced West Genesee.
And based on the initial result, it seemed like little had changed. In fact, the Brothers seemed better, especially on the defensive end, where it tamed the Wildcats in the second half of an 11-5 victory.
Steadily, CBA worked its way in front, 5-3, by halftime, and then augmented that effort with a defense that limited WG to just two goals the rest of the way and never allowed any of its players to score more than once.
Matt Craybas was sensational, stopping 17 of the Wildcats’ 22 shots, and while WG goalie Bryce Landry had 15 saves, the Brothers had more success against him.
Declan Landers scored three times, with Dan Anderson and Chris Adornato each getting two goals. Joe Papa and Andrew Kohlbrenner each had a goal and two assists as Bracton Bowler and John Greenwood also converted, with Dan Ludington getting two assists and Alex Afieri a single assist.
Back on Monday, the Brothers battled Section V powerhouse Victor last Monday at Alibrandi Stadium and took a 14-8 defeat to the Blue Devils.
CBA could not get on even terms with Victor until it the visitors had steadily built an 11-5 advantage over the course of the first three quarters.
Papa managed a three-goal hat trick, with Ludington and Anderson each scoring twice. Adornato got the other goal as Landers added an assist. Craybas recorded 11 saves.
Then CBA handled Tully 17-10 right before Beardsley’s resignation, getting hat tricks from Ludington, Adornato and Kohlbrenner, who tacked on a couple of assists.
Papa, Bowler and Joe Nicholson had two goals apiece, with Landers and Afieri also finding the net as Anderson and John Greenwood both got two assists
While all this was going on, East Syracuse Minoa played three times on the road, winning each game to improve to 5-0 in advance of Tuesday’s showdown with Jamesville-DeWitt.
The Spartans blitzed Syracuse City 17-3 last Monday night, scoring seven times in each of the first two quarters on the way to a 14-1 halftime margin.
Jackson Palumb led with three goals and four assists, with Gavin Houghtaling getting four goals and two assists. Nolan Palmer also had a hat trick as Matt Kenney got two goals and four assists, with Trey Jones earning two goals and two assists. Logan Welch, Dominic Caruana and Eric Callahan netted goals as Caruana dished out two assists.
ESM then handled Oswego 11-1 on Wednesday, steadily wearing the Buccaneers down as Kenney and Houghtaling both netted three goals. Palumb scored twice, with Jones, Caruana and Evan deBerjeois also finding the net.
Then, in Friday’s 17-8 victory over Central Square, the Spartans did not get off to the best start, trailing 4-1 after one period, but outscored the Redhawks 8-1 the rest of the half to take charge.
Palumb, with five goals and two assists, benefited as Houghtaling amassed five assists. Jones, Callahan and deBerjeois got two goals apiece, with Caruana, Welch, Logan Palmer, Grady Abreu and Will D’Agostino also netting goals.