ONONDAGA COUNTY – Maybe because of a couple of defeats against high-end opposition, some may have started to discount the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team, at least when compared with its storied predecessors.
One week, and two impressive results, changed all that thinking in a hurry.
First, the Red Rams knocked off unbeaten East Syracuse Minoa 14-7. Then it went to Fayetteville-Manlius last Friday night and stifled Fayetteville-Manlius in an 11-3 romp that was the Hornets’ first defeat of 2021.
Of the two games, the win at F-M may have proved more startling simply because, when these same two teams met five days earlier at J-D, F-M had put on a second-half scoring clinic on the way to a 17-12 victory.
A far different Rams defense greeted the Hornets in the rematch. Mike Petrell, Ben Schellinger, Gunther Schnorr and the rest of J-D’s back line bothered the potent F-M attack, forcing turnovers and limiting it to 13 shots, 10 of which were stopped by Jamison MacLachlan.
Meanwhile, the Rams were patient on the other end, centering its attack around Johnny Keib and Ethan Kesserling as the pair both got three-goal hat tricks, Keib adding two assists.
Tanner Burns scored twice and added an assist, with Gannon Kessler, John Withers and Lucas Bort getting the other goals. On F-M’s side, only T.J. Conley, Connor Aspinall and Isaac Frechette were able to find the net.
Before all this, J-D was impressive against ESM. L
Lopsided victories in each of its first five games had put the Spartans in the best possible position to face the Rams, but a combination of factors, from face-offs to offensive skill, helped J-D take charge.
J-D was uneven out of the gate, not scoring in the game’s first 8 ½ minutes, yet the Spartans could only get a 2-0 margin on goals by Gavin Houghatling and Eric Callahan.
For the rest of the half, the Rams would catch up, only to have ESM answer, a back-and-forth scenario that resulted in the two sides going to the break tied at 5-5.
They were still even at 6-6 when Kessler scored near the midway point of the third quarter, the initial blow in what turned out to be a decisive 8-0 run that went deep into the final period.
Scott Reeves earned most of the face-offs in the late stages, giving J-D extra possessions that it turned into goals, with Burns centering the attack as he earned four assists to go with a three-goal hat trick.
Kesserling scored four times, with Keib and Sam Brazell both getting a pair of goals. Keib added two assists as Bort and Jacob Marshall both scored in the Rams’ decisive spurt.
Houghtaling led the Spartans with three goals, Trey Jones adding two goals and an assist. Nolan Palmer added a goal and Jackson Palumb gained an assist, though J-D goalie Jamison MacLachlan stopped 12 of the 19 shots he faced.
One other bad part about this game, from ESM’s perspective, was that it missed an opportunity to give its head coach, Jon McCoy, his 200th career victory.
But that would get taken care of two nights later when the Spartans put away Fulton 17-2, the outcome never in doubt as Palumb led the way, amassing five goals and tacking on three assists.
Logan Welch scored twice, adding two assists, with Evan deBerjeois and Aidan Fredericks also getting two goals. Jones had a goal and two assists as Nolan Palmer, Will D’Agostino, Grady Abreu and Keegan Barry joined Callahan earning single goals.
Win no. 201 for McCoy was Saturday’s 20-4 romp over Cortland, which had Jones earn six assists to go with three goals as Palumb scored five times and deBerjeois also had a three-goal hat trick.
