CENTRAL NEW YORK – A quartet of area high school boys lacrosse teams were already in good form as they headed into the first full week of April.
Marcellus, in particular, had impressed at the outset, first routing Auburn on March 30 and then, two days later, going to Cazenovia and bashing the newly-configured Lakers 18-6.
Cazenovia now had a team combined with Chittenango and other neighboring schools, but that meant little against a Mustangs side that built a 9-3 halftime lead an then outscored the Lakers 8-1 in a decisive third quarter.
Chris Doshna matched the opposition with six goals, adding an assist as Adam Rayfield had four goals and three assists. Doryn LeClair earned four assists to go with his pair of goals as Jimmy Cox got a three-goal hat trick. Henry Lawrence, Dieter Steigerwald and Connor Ciota had one goal apiece.
And Marcellus did not let up one bit in last Tuesday’s game against traditional Section V power Penn Yan, winning this clash of Mustangs sides by a 10-3 margin.
Adam Rayfield was responsible for most of the production, netting four goals and adding a pair of assists. Nick Rayfield, with two assists, joined Doshna by scoring twice as LeClair got a goal and three assists. Jimmy Cox also converted.
In Friday’s 19-2 win over Holland Patent, four different Mustangs earned hat tricks. Adam Rayfield’s four goals complemented three-goal efforts by Cox, LeClair and Cam Stojkovski.
That same day, Skaneateles saw a record-breaking performance from Grayson Brunelle in the course of a wild 20-13 victory over Indian River.
All that Brunelle did was amass seven goals and seven assists, his 14 points setting a new school mar whenk for a single game, breaking the record Sam Duggan set with 12 points in 2016.
Ethan Hunt and Charlie Carbonaro helped the Lakers get away late, each finishing with four goals and one assist. Sean Kerwick scored twice and got a pair of assists as Jeff McCrone, Landon Brunelle and Braeden Weeks also converted.
Westhill also played on April 1 and, taking its own turn against Auburn, started and finished fast to earn a 15-9 win over the Maroons.
The Warriors jumped out 7-1 in the first quarter, and maintained that edge until a third period when Auburn made a 6-1 run of its own.
Yet that only fueled Westhill’s fast finish – five unanswered goals in the final period. Andrew Mondo (four goals, one assist) and Luke Gilmartin (three goals, two assists) led a well-balanced attack.
Emmet Starowicz earned four assists to go with his pair of goals. Owen Etoll also had two goals as Charlie DeMore, Tom Pendergast, Ian Centore and Josh Gratien also converted.
When Westhill took on Penn Yan Friday, it pulled out a 6-5, double-overtime decision when Gilmartin put in the game-winner.
It was Gilmartin’s second goal, equaling Mondo as Gratien and Centore earned the other goals. But the real stars of the game were face-off specialist Luke Savage, who won 15 of 16 draws, and goalie Keller O’Hern, who got 15 saves.
Jordan-Elbridge returned to action Thursday and rolled to a 17-4 victory over Holland Patent as the trio of Nixon Karcz, Brian Tanner and Joe LaFleur picked up four goals apiece.
Wyatt Werth fed all of them, earning four assists to go with his pair of tallies. Wyatt Mullen had a goal and three assists, with Austin Melchior and Jayden Castaldo adding goals and Brayden Kitterie getting a pair of assists.
