ONONDAGA COUNTY – Though they have battled one another for decades and, at times, the rivalry has gone in the other direction, once again West Genesee lacrosse has gained an upper hand on Fayetteville-Manlius.
And that is permanent for the 2024 season, at least on the boys side since the Hornets moved back to Class A for this year’s Section III playoffs and the Wildcats are still in Class A, bent on adding to its championship legacy.
These two sides met in boys lacrosse Thursday night at Mike Messere Field and a quick start, combined with timely answers whenever it got stressful, helped the Wildcats prevail by a score of 12-10 to finish a 13-3 regular season.
Their first encounter April 30 at F-M went 16-10 in WG’s favor, and though the lineup had changed for the state no. 9-ranked Wildcats, it still would have control of matters from the start.
Before the Hornets could settle down, WG had built a 6-3 advantage by the end of the first quarter, and even when the defenses settled down, the margin grew, ultimately reaching 8-4 by the time they reached the break.
F-M wouldn’t go away, getting three goals from Randal Hearn and two goals apiece from Henry Dougherty, Tom Porter and Colin Clark as it battled back in the second half, cutting the margin in half.
Still, WG would hang on, led by senior Gary McLane, who had three goals and two assists as Teshale Kelly stepped up with a three-goal hat trick of his own. Jacob Pensabene scored twice and got an assist, with Jonah Vormwold winning 15 of 26 face-offs as he, along with Jack Wenham, Nash Oudemool and Chace Cogan, had one goal apiece.
As this went on, West Genesee’s girls lacrosse team, no. 5 in its state Class B rankings, engaged in quite a battle against F-M and was quite happy to get out with a tough 9-8 win over the Hornets to move its own record to 13-3.
For a while, the game resembled the 15-6 win the Wildcats put together two weeks earlier, but F-M made a late charge and almost caught up, requiring the Wildcats’ defense to make several key stops.
And in the process, WG goalie Allie Hanlon set a new school mark, her eight saves giving her 623 for her career surpassing the WG record of 619 John Galloway established before a noted career at Syracuse University.
Molly Doran, with two goals and two assists, paced a well-balanced WG attack. Ashleigh Blanding, Sophia Lawrence and Maria Snyder also had two-goal outings, with Mia Gialto also finding the net.
In defeat, F-M had Taylor Novack earn five assists often passing it to Julianna Cogliandro and Kathryn McNany, who had three goals apiece as Micaela Jennings earned 12 saves.
