Four consecutive wins to open its season had made the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team, once again, the primary challenger to rival West Genesee for local Class B supremacy.

As they waited to face the Wildcats, though, the Hornets first had a chance to get a big win against another established power when it went to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium last Thursday night to face reigning two-time state Class A champion Baldwinsville.

It proved a tense, exciting affair, but the Hornets’ win streak was halted as it fell 10-9 to the Bees, the third time this season B’ville had beaten an opponent by a single goal.

F-M had to fight back from a slow start, the Bees jumping out 4-1 by the end of the first quarter. Over the course of the next two periods, the Hornets gradually caught up, eventually tying it, 8-8, with one period left, the attack carried by Tyler Burns, who burned B’ville for six goals.

Every possession in the fourth quarter was valuable. The Hornets converted just once, while two goals, the last of them by Brady Garcia, pushed B’ville back in front to stay.

Other than Burns, the only F-M goals went to Randal Hearn, Colin Clark and Henry Dougherty, with Charles Addonizio adding an assist. Most of the Hornets’ shots were turned back as Bees goalie Trevor Sutton had 13 saves.

Two nights earlier, F-M was at home, facing Auburn, and again leaned heavily on its defense in a 9-6 victory over the Maroons. Where the game got decided was in the second and third quarters. To help break out of an early 2-2 tie, F-M limited Auburn to just one goal in those 24 minutes of action, rarely allowing many shot opportunities.

On the other end, the Hornets got three goals from Noah Fox and two goals from Addonizio. Hearn, Dougherty, Tom Porter and Sean Kellish had one goal apiece, Kellish adding two assists and Hearn one assist.

Right after facing B’ville, F-M found itself again in trouble in Saturday’s game at Skaneateles, where it trailed 9-7 through three quarters. But a big fourth-quarter surge helped the Hornets beat the Lakers 12-10 and improve to 5-1 overall.

Keying the late comeback, Burns put up four goals and Hearn scored three times, adding a pair of assists. Kellish and Clark both finished with a goal and two assists, with Dougherty, Addonizio and Kieran Egan also scoring. Noah Fox picked up an assist.

This happened as Jamesville-DeWitt continued to carve up opponents, the Red Rams ripping Auburn 17-3 last Thursday night at Holland Stadium as it bolted out to a 13-0 advantage by halftime.

Graham Kesserling led the way with four goals and four assists, Sam Brazell adding three goals and five assists. Alex Carolin also scored three times as Lucas Patchen, Andrew Laubenstein and Ryan Babikan had two goals apiece, Patchen adding two assists.

Far more impressive was J-D’s 12-7 win Saturday over Section V power Canandaigua as the Rams did a good job against a normally tough Gray Wolves defense.

Patchen, in particular, enjoyed the day, tearing up Canandaigua for eight goals, a new career mark. Brazell helped out with three goals, while Laubenstein also found the net and earned an assist.

Christian Brothers Academy went up against reigning sectional Class D champion Marcellus and, for the most part, was well-contained in a 12-3 defeat to the Mustangs.

The Brothers did not get on the board until the second quarter, and even then had just one goal in each remaining period, two of them scored by Ben Anderson as he also assisted on Will Cannizzo’s tally.

Busy in the net, Rico Petrosillo recorded 20 saves, but Marcellus still found enough chances, the trio of Chris Doshna, Nick Rayfield and Jimmy Cox getting three goals apiece and Adam Rayfield adding two goals and three assists.

Then, on Saturday, CBA lost 16-8 to Baldwinsville, seeing its record drop to 1-5 overall. East Syracuse Minoa faced that same fate on Saturday, but avoided it by defeating Auburn 16-10.

Having lost 12-5 to Cicero-North Syracuse two nights earlier, the Spartans found a scoring groove thanks to the trio of Cayden Claflin, Mike Santillo and Logan Welch. Claflin scored five times, with Santillo getting four goals and three assists as Welch gained three goals and five assists. Gavin Rinaldi added two goals and one assist.