CENTRAL NEW YORK – Fairly or not, in recent years the East Syracuse Minoa boys lacrosse team always found itself having to measure itself against the dynasty down the road at Jamesville-DeWitt.
Most of the time, the Spartans got the worst of it – but not in last Monday’s showdown at Spartan Stadium, where ESM, riding the hot hand of Jackson Palumb, knocked off the Red Rams 12-10.
Only sporting a 4-3 record going into this game, ESM announced its presence as a Class B sectional title contender with a solid attack that did enough damage against J-D’s defense and then, on the other end, was able to preserve its lead.
Palumb proved impossible for the Rams to contain, earning six goals, half his team’s output, and working quite well with Trey Jones and Evan deBerjeois, who each got three assists.
Eric Markert scored twice, as did deBerjeois, with Dominic Caruana earning one goal and one assist. Logan Welch also had a goal as each of Luke James’ 12 saves proved important, J-D counterpart Ian McIntyre only making 10 saves.
It didn’t get easier for J-D as, on Thursday night, West Genesee paid a visit and, with great defense and one big scoring burst, it gave the Rams an 8-4 defeat.
Neither side produced much in the first half. Then, trailing 3-2 at the break, J-D saw the Wildcats go on a 5-1 run in the third quarter, more than it could overcome.
Only Gannon Kessler scored twice, the other goals going to Sam Brazell and Aidan Bates as Matt Keeler had two assists and McIntyre finished with 13 saves. Jack Mellen led WG with three goals, with River Oudemool scoring twice.
In between these games, J-D beat Oswego 16-5 on Wednesday, with Kessler getting five goals and three assists. Brazell scored twice, adding four assists as Keeler got three goals and Bates and Ian Delpha both had two goals and one assist.
And all of this was better than what Fayetteville-Manlius was doing as it lost, 14-7, to Liverpool last Thursday night, the second time in April the Hornets were bested by the Warriors.
Unlike that first meeting, Liverpool had total control from the outset, leading 5-1 after one period and never getting caught. T.J. Conley and Louis Cogliandro had two goals apiece for F-M as Robert Madden and John Angelicola had the other goals. Joe Sacco (four goals, one assist) and Aaron Clouthier (three goals, two assists) paced the Warriors.
At least F-M recovered from this to go head-to-head with J-D on Saturday and, in a battle of two powers going through atypical struggles, the Hornets got the best of it, prevailing 12-8.
J-D’s strong second quarter gave it a 6-4 halftime lead, but F-M dominated the rest of the way, closing on an 8-2 run as Cogliandro and Joe Hathorn both had three goals and two assists, while Madden scored twice. Brazell, with three goals, and Lucas Patchen, with two goals, paced the Rams.
ESM nearly had a letdown after beating J-D, but battled past Auburn 12-11 in a game on Thursday where it went on an 8-1 second-quarter run to erase an early 3-2 deficit.
The Maroons nearly made up that 10-4 halftime deficit, led by Christian Hogan and Zach Croby, who each had three goals and two assists. But four-goal outings by Palumb and deBerjeois, backed by Jones and Markert getting two goals apiece, proved enough, and James again made a difference thanks to his 12 saves.
Then, in Saturday’s 14-4 win over Rome Free Academy, Palumb had five goals as Jones got four goals and three assists. Welch and deBerjeois had two goals apiece.
Christian Brothers Academy saw its perfect 6-0 mark put in some jeopardy in last Wednesday’s game against Cazenovia, but a big surge early in the second half led to a 12-9 victory.
The Lakers controlled the early pace and were up 5-4 at the break, but in the third quarter the Brothers were able to win some face-offs and kept converting them during a decisive 7-1 run.
Dan Anderson led with four goals, with Joe Papa scoring three times. Dan Ludington got two goals as Seamus Nicholson had a goal and assist. Declan Landers and Johnny Massaro also found the net, CBA overcoming a six-goal effort by Cazenovia star Brody Coleman.
