ONONDAGA COUNTY – Accustomed to excellence and winning championships, area high school boys lacrosse teams began their respective 2023 seasons wanting to take that extra step to glory.
Of them, Fayetteville-Manlius gained the biggest high-profile assignment, traveling last Tuesday to Liverpool and, in its season opener, defeating the Warriors 9-7.
Though it led 4-2 at halftime, the Hornets had to regroup after Liverpool’s strong third quarter helped forge a 6-6 tie.
Combining a well-balanced attack with solid defense, F-M closed on a 3-1 run, having seen T.J. Conley, Kyle Freyer and Robert Madden both net a pair of goals, Madden adding an assist.
Charles Addonizio had one goal and one assist, with Michael Hance and Sean Kellish also netting goals. Brady Michaud, Joe Sacco (two goals each) and Dom Osbeck (one goal, four assists) paced Liverpool.
F-M followed up with an impressive 14-9 win over Pittsford last Thursday where it did most of the damage early, battling its way to a 10-5 advantage on the Panthers by halftime.
John Angelicola put up five goals, with Madden scoring four times and getting a pair of assists. Conley earned four assists and scored twice, Freyer getting one goal and two assists. Hance had one goal and one assist.
On Saturday, F-M faced Christian Brothers Academy and this, too, turned into a tense, closely-fought classic, with both defenses in fine form but the Hornets rallying to prevail 6-5.
Helped by two goals apiece from Joe Papa and Jack Ludington, CBA battled its way to a 5-4 lead through three quarters, Ludington getting the go-ahead goal late in the third.
However, Madden tied it again, 5-5, with seven minutes left, and two minutes later Jack Hearn put it past Brothers goalie Matt Craybas to get F-M in front, where it would stay.
The tying goal was Madden’s third of the afternoon, to go with two from Hearn and one from Conley. Freyer managed an assist. Craybas had eight saves to the seven from Charlie Lorraine and Zach Spencer.
CBA had its opener April 1 against Section V power Pittsford, and nearly made a late comeback before taking a 9-8 defeat to the Panthers.
Shut out in the first quarter and nearly again in the third, the Brothers closed each half strong. Trailing 8-5 going to the final period, CBA almost got it to overtime. Despite falling short, Papa netted three goals, with Will Cannizzo and John Massaro each scoring twice and Andrew Kohlbrenner adding a goal.
East Syracuse Minoa hosted West Genesee that same afternoon, and despite a fine effort the Spartans could not keep up with the Wildcats, who prevailed 15-6.
Evan deBerjeois and Dan Abreau both scored twice for ESM, single goals going to Cayden Claflin and Mike Santillo. Damon Jones added an assist as Luke James made 12 saves but saw WG get four goals from Ryan Considine and three goals from Nash Oudemool.
Then, against reigning state Class A champion Baldwinsville on Thursday, the Spartans could not keep up with the Bees, who pulled away in the second half and beat ESM 16-5.
Between them, Claflin and Santillo had all five of the Spartans’ goals, but that came after B’ville went in front 4-0 in the first quarter, pulling further away as Carson Dyl (four goals), Keegan Lynch (three goals, four assists) and Garrett Sutton (three goals) each finished with a hat trick.
