CENTRAL NEW YORK – With every game, and every victory it picks up, the sense that this might be quite a special season for the Marcellus boys lacrosse team only gets stronger.
At the end of a particularly tough week, the Mustangs met long-time power Fayetteville-Manlius and, building upon all it had done before, beat both the summer-like heat and the Hornets in a 10-8 decision that made
This game was close all the way through, and most of the time the goals were exchanged, Marcellus trading scoring runs with F-M.
But it all changed in the third quarter. Strong on defense and netting three unanswered goals, the Mustangs turned a 5-4 deficit into a 7-5 lead and then answered every Hornets charge down the stretch.
Keying it was the 10 saves from goalie Quenten Polkowski and the work of the Rayfield brothers, Nick getting five goals and Adam three goals to go to with his pair of assists. Chris Doshna and Henry Lawrence had the other goals.
Back on Tuesday night, Marcellus put its unbeaten mark on the line against Jordan-Elbridge and rolled past the Eagles 16-4.
Well-balanced in its attack, the Mustangs saw Doryn LeClair and Adam Rayfield each score four times, LeClair getting three assists and Rayfield three assists.
Close behind them, Nick Rayfield had three goals and three assists, with Doshna getting three goals and one assist. Dieter Steigerwald converted twice and had a pair of assists.
J-E only got two goals from Nixon Karcz and one each from Wyatt Werth and Joe LaFleur, but got the best news possible when senior Wyatt Mullen, whose injury caused the game to be stopped for nearly half an hour, went home after treatment and was expected to make a full recovery.
Marcellus was back on the field Thursday, getting its toughest test yet against Section II’s Ballston Spa, but seeing Adam Rayfield take over down the stretch to earn a 10-7 victory over the Scotties.
Through three quarters, the Mustangs found itself in a 7-7 tie, but Rayfield, who already had five goals, continued to find his way to the net, converting three more times to bring his career-best total to eight.
Often, those passes came from LeClair, who piled up five assists. Cox and Nick Rayfield had the other goals, with Doshna adding an assist and Polkowski quite good in the net, stopping 15 of Ballston Spa’s 22 shots.
As Marcellus was knocking off F-M, J-E was back on the field Saturday for the first time since the Mullen injury and, motivated to get back on track, did so by hammering Section IV’s Oneonta 18-1.
t was 14-0 by halftime, Casey Ryan leading the way with five goals and Werth getting two goals and four assists. Karcz scored three times as Jayden Castaldo and Brian Tanner had two goals apiece. Andrew McLaughlin and Tom Long both got one goal and one assist.
