ONONDAGA COUNTY – Pushed back to no. 8 in the state Class A rankings after its May 2 defeat at Baldwinsville, the West Genesee boys lacrosse team still finds itself as the clear favorite with the Section III Class B playoffs close at hand.
To reinforce this point, the Wildcats took charge in the third quarter of last Tuesday’s game with Liverpool at Mike Messere Field, eventually producing an 11-6 victory over the Warriors.
When they first met in April, WG had to come back in the second half to pull out a 10-9 decision, and for a while the rematch drifted in the same direction, both in score and tempo.
Again solid on defense, Liverpool didn’t let the Wildcats get clear and moved back into a 4-4 tie by halftime, which was enough for an alarm to help WG find top form after the break.
The Warriors were kept off the board in the pivotal third quarter as the Wildcats established a 7-4 margin, one it continued to expand in the final period led by the duo of Chace Cogan and Jake McMahon.
Cogan set a new career mark with four goals, while McMahon scored three times. They were helped by Nash Oudemool, Jack Wenham, Christian Long and Matt Tully getting one goal apiece and Gary McLane adding an assist.
WG applied continual pressure thanks to Jonah Vormwold nearly throwing a perfect game in the center X, winning 16 of 17 face-offs. Liverpool did get 18 saves from goalie Owen Salanger.
Even more impressive was what the Wildcats did on Thursday night at Cicero-North Syracuse, putting away the Northstars 17-9 to complete another regular-season sweep over a league rival.
The margin did not tell how close this was for a while. WG, who beat C-NS 19-8 in April, saw a 7-2 advantage built in the first quarter gradually decrease until the Northstars were within one, 8-7. early in the third period.
What followed was a 6-1 scoring burst that covered the rest of the period, again keyed by Vormwold, who mastered whichever C-NS player was lined up against him to the tune of going 23-for-25 with faceoffs.
Wenham benefited the most, setting a career mark with five goals. Oudemool, Cogan and McMahon each scored three times, with McLane notching four assists as he joined Vormwold and Jacob Pensabene getting single goals. Owen Coleman recorded nine saves.
All of this made what happened Saturday against Jamesville-DeWitt so surprising.
It wasn’t that the state Class C no. 3-ranked Red Rams prevailed, it was that the margin was 15-5, with J-D able to solve Vormwold on faceoffs and then take full advantage of extra possessions as Sam Brazell and Lucas Patchen led with four goals apiece and Andrew Laubenstein added three goals.
Other than McLane’s three-goal hat trick, all the Wildcats got was goals from Cogan and Pensabene, plus two assists from McMahon as 12 of WG’s 17 shots were turned back by Rams goalie Emmet McCaul.
With its recent strong play, WG’s girls lacrosse team had moved up to no. 5 in the state Class B rankings, but it had to sweat hard last Tuesday to pull out a 7-6 decision over Liverpool.
The Warriors took more shots during the game, only to have Allie Hanlon stop 11 of 17, ultimately the difference-maker amid a tough defensive battle.
Ashleigh Blanding scored three goals, helped by two goals from Maddie Ryder. Maria Snyder and Mia Gialton each gained one goal and one assist. Mia Berthoff led the Warriors with three goals and one assist.
When the Wildcats faced state Class A no. 3-ranked C-NS two nights later, it could not contain the Northstars, who prevailed 16-7 to nearly echo the 15-4 win it had over WG back in April.
Molly Doran netted three goals and Sophia Lawrence scored twice, but otherwise only Blanding and Ryder converted. Hanlon had 10 saves, C-NS getting 10 different goal-scorers led by Gabby Putman’s four goals and 14 draw controls.
