CENTRAL NEW YORK – All along, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse team knows that any chance of gaining area Class A supremacy requires measuring up to reigning state champion Baldwinsville.
That opportunity would arise Tuesday night, when the Bees visited Bragman Stadium dealing with a Northstars side who had passed all of its tests so far to build a 4-0 record.
Of those four games, none were as big as last Thursday night’s 13-12 victory at Fayetteville-Manlius, C-NS proving again that it could rally against a high-quality opponent on the road and make the late stops it needed, too.
A back-and-forth first half saw the Hornets match whatever C-NS threw at them and carry a 7-6 advantage to the break, but the Northstars controlled the third quarter, outscoring the hosts 5-2.
Now trailing 11-9, F-M nearly made it back, John Angelicola getting three goals and two assists as Madden, Sean Kellish and Colin Clark each scored twice amid a balanced attack.
Still, C-NS held on at the end, helped in no small part by Leyton Sullivan’s 12 saves as , on the other end, Mason Ciciarelli got five goals to lead the way.
Ian Leahey and Donovan Chaney were sensational, too, matching each other with three-goal hat tricks as Elijah Martin piled up two goals and four assists. Joe Green had two assists, with Cy Liberman and Nick Bisesi earning single assists.
A non-league game against New Hartford on Saturday saw the Northstars not have a letdown nor look ahead to the B’ville showdown, earning a 12-7 victory over the Spartans
Again, Ciciarelli stood out, accounting for half of C-NS’s production as his six goals gave him 11 total for the week, to go with an assist.
Helping out, Leahey got three goals and three assists, while Martin also had three assists. Single goals went to Bisesi, Liberman and Nick Milewski, with Colin Stanton contributing an assist.
Of course, Liverpool would get a chance of Baldwinsville before C-NS did, traveling last Thursday to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium and getting humbled quickly in a 17-7 loss tot he Bees.
Before the Warriors could even get settled, B’ville had jumped on them with seven goals in the first quarter. Liverpool did play on even terms in the second, but a 9-3 halftime deficit was daunting.
Even with two goals from Brady Michaud and Aaron Clouthier, tallies from Owen Michaud and Mason Gridley and two assists from Joe Sacco, Liverpool saw the Bees add to its margin. Four players – Keegan Lynch, Brady Garcia, Garrett Sutton and Dylan Wirtheim – had three goals apiece. Owen Salanger, in defeat, had 12 saves.
