Having both tasted overtime defeats in the first week of the regular season, the Marcellus and Westhill boys lacrosse teams had better results the next time they found themselves facing similar pressure.
In the Mustangs’ case, it involved getting the best of archrival Skaneateles, which it did by a score of 10-9 in a cold, wet classic played last Tuesday night at Marcellus Stadium.
All game long, it went back and forth, this despite the Mustangs’ Chris Doshna winning 12 of the 16 face-offs he took which led to plenty of extra possessions.
They were tied at the end of all four quarters, with it getting to 5-5 at halftime and both sides netting two goals in the third and fourth quarters as the tension built.
Finally, in the OT period freshman Henry Lawrence, already one of six different Marcellus goal-scorers, put in the decisive goal, his second oft the night. That matched Nick Rayfield, who added three assists as Doshna managed three goals and two assists.
Donovan Fraher, Adam Rayfield and Jimmy Cox had the other goals, and Quenten Polkowski’s nine saves exactly matched those by the Lakers’ goalie duo of Luke Logan and Jack Marquardt.
Earning five assists, Sean Kerwick anchored the Skaneateles attack, his passes often going to Jack Torrey, who netted four goals. Charlie Carbonaro scored twice as single goals went to Kerwick, Quinn Cheney and Landen Brunelle.
As a follow-up on Saturday, Marcellus hosted Liverpool and, over the course of the second and third quarters, went on an 11-4 run to break up a 2-2 tie and eventually prevail by a 17-9 margin.
Liverpool had no answer for Adam Rayfield, who piled up five goals and five assists. Doshna got three goals, with Fraher earning two goals and three assists as Lawrence and Nick Rayfield also scored twice.
That same day, Skaneateles absorbed another close defeat when it fell 13-12 to Watertown, the Cyclones breaking out of a 6-6 halftime tie by outscoring the Lakers 4-2 in the third quarter and hanging on late despite Brunelle’s five goals and two assists. Mizro and Torrey each had two goals and one assist, with Kerwick, Carbonaro and Cheney all finishing with one goal and one assist.
Westhill found itself in a pitched battle with Jordan-Elbridge last Tuesday night, and Owen Etoll made sure his Warriors did not drop three in a row, carrying his side past the Eagles 7-6 in overtime.
Getting two goals apiece from Jayden Castaldo, Joe LaFluer and Nixon Karcz, plus two assists from Wyatt Werth, J-E overcame a 4-3 halftime deficit and took a 6-5 advantage to the fourth quarter.
But Etoll, already with four goals to his credit, tied it late in regulation. Then, in the OT period, both sides had chances before Etoll got free and put the game-winner past Eagles goalie Landon Brunelle.
Other than Etoll’s six goals, only Tom Pendergast scored for Westhill, adding a pair of assists. Ben McPeak, Andrew Mondo and Charlie DeMore also earned assists, overcoming 19 saves from Brunelle as Keller O’Hern, the Warriors’ goalie, finished with 10 saves.
Playing again Thursday night, J-E fell 15-7 to Homer, who moved to 4-0 on the season led by Dan Stiles’ six goals and Alex Votra’s four goals and one assist. Only LaFluer and Castaldo scored twice for the Eagles, with Karcz, Casey Ryan and Brayden Kitterle also getting goals and Werth adding two assists.
West Genesee watched all this unfold before it had a pair of road games late last week where it showed vast improvement from its season-opening overtime defeat to Shenendehowa on March 30.
At Alibrandi Stadium Thursday night, Charlie Lockwood took over the Wildcats’ 15-5 win over Christian Brothers Academy, continually producing scoring plays to help WG break out of an early 2-2 tie.
Outscoring the Brothers 11-1 in the second and third quarters, the Wildcats saw Lockwood amass six goals and three assists, with Gary McLane scoring three times. Jacob Pensabene had two goals and one assist, with Nolan Bellotti and Jake McMahon each earning one goal and one assist. Carson Berg and Chace Cogan had the other goals.
Two days later, WG traveled to Fairport, where again it won in convincing fashion, this one by a 12-5 margin.
Fairport focused in on Lockwood, but he dished out four assists as McLane, with four goals, paced the attack. Bellotti and Cogan each scored twice, with McMahon, Nash Oudemool and Jonah Vormwold also earning goals.
