CENTRAL NEW YORK – A bit of cold reality hit the Skaneateles and Westhill boys lacrosse teams ahead of their mid-season showdown against one another.
Once undefeated, the Lakers took its first blemish last Tuesday night when it fell 9-8 in overtime to the same Fayetteville-Manlius side Marcellus had beat just three days earlier.
A wild first quarter saw the Hornets go in front 5-4, but Skaneateles dominated the rest of the half, converting three times and leading 7-5 at the break.
From there, though, F-M’s defense frustrated Skaneateles, which only managed a third-quarter goal and nothing in the fourth quarter or OT, when the Hornets pulled it out on Michael Hance’s goal with 1:21 left in the extra period.
Grayson Brunelle still managed three goals, with Sean Kerwick getting two goals and two assists.
Two nights later, Skaneateles took apart Jordan-Elbridge 14-2, led mostly by Grayson Brunelle’s five goals and two assists and Kerwick scoring four times.
Landen Brunelle got two goals and one assist, with Cade Bourcy, Charlie Carbonaro and Jeff McCrone also finding the net to overcome J-E goalie Austin Brunelle’s 13 saves. Wyatt Werth assisted on both of the Eagles’ goals, one each by Nixon Karcz and Brayden Kitterle.
Then, in Saturday’s 16-5 win over South Jefferson, Skaneateles got three goals and three assists from Ethan Hunt, while Landen Brunelle matched Grayson’s total of four goals and Carter Loi scored twice. Carbonaro had a goal and two assists.
Earlier in the week, J-E had handled Midlakes 18-2, Casey Ryan getting five goals and two assists as Karcz had four goals and one assist. Joe LaFleur scored three times, with Werth adding two goals and four assists.
Meanwhile, Westhill visited Cazenovia and was humbled in a 12-3 defeat to a Lakers side that, combined with Chittenango and other schools, has moved up to Class C for this year’s post-season.
The first half told the tale. No matter what it tried, Westhill could not put a ball into the net against a stout Cazenovia defense anchored by goalie Tucker Ives, who finished with 10 saves.
Down 6-0 at the break, Westhill did get goals from Andrew Mondo, Tom Pendergast and Luke Gilmartin in the second half, but it was far from enough. Brendon Barnard (five goals) and Forrest Ives (four goals, one assist) led Cazenovia.
Away from all this, Marcellus hit the halfway point of its regular season a perfect 8-0 following a 20-3 romp over Tully/Fabius-Pompey where it scored 10 unanswered goals in the first quarter.
Jimmy Cox, with five goals and two assists, and Doryn LeClair, with six assists, led an attack where Adam Rayfield and Chris Doshna both notched three-goal hat tricks and Rayfield added three assists. Damyn LeClair, Dieter Steigerwald and Rory Wiley had two goals apiece.
In Friday night’s game against Section V’s Chenango Valley, Marcellus made it nine in a row, prevailing 21-5. Adam Rayfield joined Doshna getting four goals and adding four assists as Nick Rayfield joined LeClair, each getting three goals and one assist. Cox and Henry Lawrence both converted twice.
