New ground was broken by the Marcellus boys lacrosse team in 2023 when it earned the Section III Class D championship and then made it all the way to the state title game before getting stopped by Cold Spring Harbor.
To begin 2024, the Mustangs ventured to Fayetteville-Manlius, engaging in a classic battle with the long-time powerhouse before taking a 12-11 overtime defeat to the Hornets.
What made his result so frustrating on the part of Marcellus was the way it battled back after a tough first half where F-M controlled the flow of play and built an 8-4 advantage.
Shutting out the Hornets in the third quarter, the Mustangs closed the gap to 8-7, and then traded goals through a tense final period as Chris Doshna, piling up five goals, led both sides.
Despite this, along with two-goal outings from Adam Rayfield and Nick Rayfield, Marcellus could not, in an 11-11 tie, get possession in overtime, and less than 90 seconds into the extra frame Kyle Freyer netted the game-winner for the Hornets, his only goal of the night.
As this went on, Jordan-Elbridge opened its season that same night against Section V’s Newark and blazed out to an 11-2 halftime lead on the way to a 15-5 victory.
Nixon Karcz proved tough to stop, augmenting his four goals with a trio of assists. Jayden Castaldo and Brayden Kitterle both got three-goal hat tricks, while Wyatt Werth scored twice and got four assists. Casey Ryan added three assists as he, along with Joe LaFluer and Connor Fraher, earned single goals.
Two days later, amid a busy Saturday afternoon, J-E won again, holding a Fulton comeback to prevail 10-9.
It was 10-6 in the Eagles’ favor going to the fourth quarter, the Eagles getting two-goal outings from Karcz, LaFluer, Kitterle and Werth to go out in front.
Battling back, the Red Dragons moved within a goal, only to have Austin Brunelle, the program’s all-time leader in saves, make a series of late stops to prevent overtime, Brunelle ultimately earning 14 saves.
Two other close games involving local teams went in the other direction, including West Genesee going to Shenendehowa and taking a 9-8 overtime defeat to the Plainsmen.
Defending the sectional Class B title, the Wildcats built a 6-3 advantage by halftime, but saw Shen come back by the end of regulation and take it in OT, overcoming four goals by Nolan Bellotti.
Charlie Lockwood, back from a year in prep school, also had a goal, as did Gary McLane, fresh off leading WG’s boys basketball team to the state Class AA final. Chace Cogan and Jake McMahon had the other goals as Owen Coleman recorded 10 saves.
Yet another OT game involved Westhill, who in its first game under head coach Rocky Garofalo fell 10-9 to Section V power Penn Yan.
Just as with West Genesee, the Warriors led early, going up 4-1 after one quarter, only to see Penn Yan eat away at the margin. In defeat, Charlie DeMore had a three-goal hat trick, adding an assist, while Andrew Mondo and Jack Hayes had two goals apiece. Owen Etoll and Josh Gratien had the other goals.
Contrasting all this was the way Skaneateles answered a slow start Saturday afternoon against General Brown, using a big second quarter to take charge and ultimately beat the Lions 15-5.
Down 2-0 after one period, the Lakers turned it around with seven unanswered goals the rest of the half, keyed by Heischel Eidel dominating at the face-off circle as he ultimately won 13 of 21 draws.
Sean Kerwick anchored the attack with three goals and four assists. Charlie Carbonaro and Jack Torrey each had two goals and one assist, with Landen Brunelle and Tye Kennedy also scoring twice. Luke Mizro earned a goal and two assists, with Carter Loi, Quinn Cheney and Andrew Falkenberg netting single goals.
