ONONDAGA COUNTY – Emotions always flow when Fayetteville-Manlius and West Genesee meet in boys lacrosse, especially when a Section III championship is at stake.
And just past the midway point of the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s sectional Class B final at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, the Hornets were fired up.
Trailing most of the game, F-M had received two unexpected goals – one from Tyler Burns, then one from defender George LaCombe, who had charged to the net, was stopped, then got his own rebound and converted.
In the storybook, the Hornets ride the momentum from those goals to a championship. In reality, the Wildcats shut the door the rest of the way, scored twice and prevailed by an 8-6 margin.
F-M split two regular-season meetings with WG and, in them, Rob Madden had netted 11 goals, seven in the 14-13 victory the Hornets earned earlier in May.
Here, though, Madden was shut out. Wildcats defender Brendan Patrick got the assignment tailed him all game long, keeping him off the board along with back-line mates Charles Sorbello and Anthony Edgar.
“We won because of them,” said Wildcats head coach Eric Burns.
Even with this, along with two goals from Teshale Kelly (who had just three all season going into the game), F-M led 4-3 late in the second quarter thanks to two goals apiece from John Angelicola and Kyle Freyer.
Then River Oudemool and Liam Burns scored 11 seconds apart to put the Wildcats in front, while its defense F-M for more than 20 minutes, but it couldn’t get away, F-M just as tough and seeing Zach Spencer work his total to 12 saves.
When Burns and LaCombe struck, the Hornets appeared to have all the momentum, only to see WG’s proven seniors had the final say. Jack Mellen put the Wildcats ahead for good less than a minute after LaCombe’s tally, and with 3:43 left Liam Burns tacked on an insurance goal, his fourth of the day.
F-M earned the trip by putting together a pair of well-timed scoring bursts early in last Friday’s sectional semifinal against no. 3 seed Watertown, leading to a 14-8 win over the Cyclones.
In the game’s first eight minutes, the Hornets bolted out 5-0, with two of the goals from Madden along with tallies from Angelicola, D.J. Concannon and Sean Kellish.
After Watertown cut it to 5-3 early in the second quarter, F-M got a goal and then, in a 44-second span, converted three times, ultimately establishing an 11-3 advantage and blanking the Cyclones for more than 21 minutes of game time.
Madden, with four goals, led a well-balanced attack as Angelicola got three goals. Michael Hance impressed with two goals and two assists as Concannon also converted twice.
Kellish earned two assists as, in a rare sprint up the right side, Owen McCarthy hit on a goal, as did Adam Koss, with Jack Hearn adding two assists.
West Genesee, to get to the final, had to knock off East Syracuse Minoa, who had gone on the road to upset Christian Brothers Academy two days earlier, but could not match it here.
Tied 1-1 midway through the first quarter, the Spartans saw WG go on a scoring rampage that lasted the rest of the half, the Wildcats not letting up until it led 10-5 at the break.
Instead of coming back, ESM found shut out until the fourth quarter, when it made a late spurt as Evan deBerjeois and Logan Welch both finished with two goals and one assist.
Cayden Claflin got a goal and two assists, while Dan Abreu and Dillon Abreu each had one goal and one assist. Mike Santillo and Noah Taylor also got points as, for the Wildcats, Burns amassed three goals and four assists, previewing what he would do against F-M in the title game.
