ONONDAGA COUNTY – In order to get to the Section III boys lacrosse Class D championship game, Skaneateles and Westhill have to go through each other first.
The no. 2 seed Lakers and no. 3 seed Warriors meet Saturday in the sectional semifinals at Chittenango High School, right before top seed and defending champion Marcellus was challenged by no. 4 seed General Brown.
They all won lopsided quarterfinals games Wednesday night once the bad weather passed, with Westhill handling Jordan-Elbridge, the no. 6 seed, by a 16-1 margin.
No doubt, the Warriors remembered how J-E nearly beat them back on April 2, a 7-6 decision that lingered even as Westhill went 2-5 in its last seven regular-season games.
The playoff rematch saw the Warriors take 35 shots to the Eagles’ eight, and six of those by Charlie DeMore went in the net as he anchored an attack where Tom Pendergast also had a three-goal hat trick.
Andrew Mondo, Jack Hayes and Owen Etoll each scored twice, Mondo getting four assists and Hayes a pair of assists. Luke Infanti had the other goal as Brayden Kitterle put up J-E’s lone goal and Austin Brunelle made 19 saves.
Now Westhill could prepare for Skaneateles, who matched the margin of the Warriors against no. 7 seed Tully while it recorded a 19-4 victory over the Black Knights.
Here, what happened in the regular season – namely, the Lakers routing Tully 16-3 early in May – repeated itself under playoff pressure, Skaneateles erupting for nine goals in the first quarter and nearly equaling it in the second to lead 17-3 by halftime.
Landen Brunelle’s five goals and two assists were equaled, on the points side, by Jack Torrey’s four goals and three assists. Luke Mizro (three goals, two assiss) and Sean Kerwick (two goals, three assists) matched point totals, too, while Charlie Carbonaro, Ty Green, Jack Bobbett, Carter Loi and Braedan Taggart also picked up goals.
Capping this off was what Marcellus did against Thousand Islands, prevailing 19-0 to set up a semifinal showdown with General Brown after the Lions edged Cazenovia 7-5.
A 12-goal first quarter helped the Mustangs bury the Vikings, Adam Rayfield setting the tone with five assists to go with his pair of goals.
Chris Doshna, Jimmy Cox and Henry Lawrence got three goals apiece, with Nick Rayfield and Donavan Frhaer each earning two goals and one assist. Damyn LaClair, Jeff Lantry and Griffin Barney each got one goal and one assist, Ryan Thomson adding a goal.
