CENTRAL NEW YORK – Another full, busy week of boys lacrosse would conclude with Christian Brothers Academy squaring off against East Syracuse Minoa on Saturday afternoon at Alibrandi Stadium.
Here, the Spartans may have played as well from start to finish as at any time this season, the end reward a 14-8 victory over the Brothers to improve its overall record to 7-5.
Right from the outset, ESM asserted control, steadily building a 7-3 advantage by halftime and also outscoring CBA in each of the last two periods as the pace picked up while seeing Luke James turn away 14 of CBA’s 22 shots.
Logan Welch led the Spartans, scoring five times. Cayden Claflin had three goals and one assist, with Mike Santillo earning two goals and two assists. Noah Taylor got a goal and three assists as Nick Courcy converted twice and Jackson Tedesco added a goal.
In defeat, Vince Lazzaro, with five goals, accounted for more than half the Brothers’ production. Outside of him, there was just two goals from Will Cannizzo and a goal from Jon Fallon as Jack Wichmann earned two assists and Ben Anderson one assist.
Back on Monday, ESM returned to the .500 mark (5-5) with a strong performance at Rome Free Academy that resulted in a 14-5 win over the Black Knights.
Despite RFA’s 6-2 record, the Spartans jumped out 5-2 in the first quarter and kept adding to that margin with each of its top five players producing well and James turning back 10 of the Black Knights’ 15 shots.
Claflin and Gavin Rinaldi both scored four times, Rinaldi adding two assists. Taylor set a new career mark for points thanks to his three goals and five assists, with Welch getting three goals and two assists. Santillo gained four assists.
Just before the CBA game, the Spartans went to Fulton on Friday and, after an uneven first half, outscored the Red Dragons 11-0 in the last two periods to prevail 17-5.
Welch’s five goals meant he would get 13 for the week as Taylor and Claflin both notched four goals and two assists. Santillo was close behind with three goals and two assists, Rinaldi scoring twice and Courcy getting a single goal.
At 2-6 despite some strong efforts in the first half of the regular season, CBA hoped its would start to turn around when it faced LaFayette/Onondaga last Tuesday night.
And the evidence was quite encouraging as the Brothers outscored the Lancers 17-12, having its way on offense during an explosive first half where it constantly burned the LaFayette/OCS defense while establishing a 14-6 advantage.
Wichmann had a career-best performance with five goals and five assists. The Lancers couldn’t key on him since Anderson and Lazzaro each had four goals and one assist. Cannizzo scored twice, with single goals going to Fallon and Jack Ludington.
Going to Homer two nights later, CBA lost by the exact same 14-8 margin that it would against ESM, seeing a 3-2 lead disappear when the Trojans notched six unanswered goals in the second quarter.
Again leading the Brothers’ attack, Wichmann had two goals and two assists. Lazzaro had a goal and two assists, with Anderson. Fallon, Cannizzo, Jack Dement and Julian Araujo also converting.
