ONONDAGA COUNTY – When the Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse team staged its memorable comeback to top Liverpool in overtime on May 6, the question was how that result might affect all which would follow.
In Liverpool’s case, the answer partially arrived when it tried to avenge an earlier defeat to West Genesee last Tuesday night and, instead, fell 8-7 to the Wildcats.
That it was just as close as their 11-10 decision on April 21 wasn’t surprising. Both sides played strong defense early, but in the second quarter WG outscored the Warriors 4-2 to take a 5-3 edge to the break.
Stepping up its own defense, Liverpool kept the Wildcats off the board in the third period, converting twice and getting back even, 5-5. That set up a tense stretch drive where WG would go back in front, and hang on.
Jackson Furr and Dom Osbeck each scored twice, Furr getting two assists and Osbeck one assist. Aaron Clouthier had one goal and one assist. Owen Michaud and Jalen Graham had the other goals.
WG featured six different goal-scorers, with only Liam Burns and Patrick Linton converting twice. Owen Salanger’s 16 saves kept it close as he doubled the total of Wildcats counterpart Dylan Desena.
Now Liverpool would face reigning sectional Class A champion Baldwinsville two nights later, and would ultimately end up with the same result as their April 26 encounter, which was tied at halftime before the Warriors saw the Bees get away.
Here, the final score was 13-8, an identical margin to the 15-10 score of the first meeting, Liverpool a bit stingier but still unable to keep up with the Bees’ pace and all-around game.
Meanwhile, at Mike Messeere Field, C-NS took its own shot against West Genesee and seemed to have things in control, only to have it slip away in a painful 9-8 defeat.
All through the first half, the Northstars’ defense shut down the Wildcats, but though it had modest success on offense, it could only muster a 4-0 advantage.
WG got on the board in the third quarter and cut C-NS’s margin into half, to 6-4, and then sprinted out in front late as Liam Burns scored three times in the final period, four goals overall.
Mason Blakeman and Mason Ciciarelli each scored three times for the Northstars, Blakeman adding a pair of assists. The other goals went to Elijah Martin and Mike Koehler.
C-NS recovered on Saturday and romped past East Syracuse Minoa 20-6, spreading out its attack as six different players put up multiple goals.
It was Carter and Kohler stepping up, each scoring four times to set personal season marks. Ciciarelli and Blakeman both got three assists as Ciciarelli had three goals. Leahey got two goals and two assists, Martin and Jack Oswald also finding the net twice. Cy Liberman and Emmit Porter had single goals.
