Whether at home or far away from it, three area high school lacrosse teams each moved two wins from a state championship with victories in regional competition late this week.
On the boys side in Class B, West Genesee got to play on its home turf at Mike Messere Field for Saturday’s regional final against Section IV’s Vestal, having to work all four quarters to earn a 15-11 victory over the Golden Bears.
Unlike its sectional final with Fayetteville-Manlius earlier in the week, this was a game where the Wildcats’ attack took the spotlight, jumping out to a 5-2 advantage and then using a pair of scoring bursts in the second quarter to pull further away.
Jack Mellen and Liam burns converted 25 seconds apart midway through the period, and in the last minute Burns and Nolan Belotti converted, the latter of them with 1.3 seconds to play to give WG an 11-5 cushion at the break.
Vestal didn’t go away, though. It netted three straight goals to open the third quarter and, for much of the rest of the game, kept answering every time the Wildcats tried to get clear.
The key moment came near the midway point of the final period. WG led 13-10, but Vestal had possession in front of its own net. Yet when goalie Rashee Shuler went out of his crease to try and clear it, he lost the ball – and Belotti picked it up, firing it into an open net.
Burns would later add another goal to give him three as he and Ryan Considine both had three assists to go with their hat tricks. Mellen also scored three times, with Oudemool equaling Belotti’s three goals as WG will face Section V power Victor in Wednesday’s state semifinal at Tompkins Community College.
That game, at 3 p.m., will precede the Class D state semifinal between Marcellus and Penn Yan, a matchup of two Mustangs sides made possible by Marcellus going out Saturday and routing Section X’s Odgdensburg Free Academy 18-6 in its regional final.
A first-quarter shutout produced a 5-0 margin and the Mustangs kept building from there, highlighted by a seven-goal third quarter.
Adam Rayfield had five goals and one assist. Doryn LeClair and Nick Rayfield both scored three times and got two assists, while Jimmy Cox and Sam Barney had two goals apiece. Chris Doshna had a goal and three assists.
In girls Class D, Skaneateles had to go through two regional games in a span of less than 48 hours, but won them with ease.
In the first of them Thursday at Owego, the Lakers beat Section IV’s Whitney Point 16-6, earning most of the margin by building a 9-3 halftime advantage.
Lilly Marquardt broke out with five goals and two assists, with Paige Willard (four goals, two assists) close behind. Rachel Hackler scored three times and Julia O’Connor got two goals and one assist, with Anasofia Cirincione getting a goal and two assists.
Moving to Saturday’s regional final at SUNY Potsdam, Skaneateles faced Section X’s Salmon River and rolled again, beating the Shamrocks 15-2.
It was 10-1 by halftime, Bella Brogan’s four goals pacing an attack where Camryn Calabro scored twice and got three assists. Hackler and Marquardt also converted twice, O’Connor getting a goal as she and Marquardt both earned two assists. Willard earned three assists as Cirincione, Mara Stanton and Allie Michel also scored.
In next Friday’s state Class D semifinal at 9 a.m., Skaneateles will play in the state semifinals, looking to make it across town to SUNY-Cortland for Saturday’s title game, also at 9 a.m.
