CORTLAND – For the second year in a row, the Marcellus boys lacrosse team has moved within a victory of the program’s first-ever state championship.
The Mustangs ran into serious opposition for the first time in the post-season during Wednesday’s state Class D semifinal against Section V champion Rochester Aquinas, but led by sophomore Nick Rayfield it still had enough on hand to beat the Little Irish 15-8.
Rayfield torched the Aquinas defense on a warm afternoon, netting seven goals and adding three assists to pull off the rare feat of earning double-digit points in a state tournament game.
It took all of six seconds for the challenge of the Irish to present itself – the exact amount of time where Aquinas won the opening face-off, ran downfield and saw Tano Auriuso put a shot past Quenten Polkowski.
Once the Mustangs absorbed this, though, it proceeded to blank the Irish for more than 18 minutes, stretching halfway through the second quarter.
Pushed hard, defenders Jeff Lantry, Luke Spitzer and Toby Niland proved physical and consistent, forcing turnovers and blocking shots, with their play often leading to scoring chances on the other end as Polkowski was solid, too, finishing with nine saves.
Goals by Adam Rayfield and Nick Rayfield less than 90 seconds apart put Marcellus on top for good, followed by tallies from Dieter Steigerwald and Chris Doshna that made 4-1 by the end of the opening period.
Nick Rayfield carried the Marcellus attack through the game’s middle stages. Displaying a vast and varied skill set, he converted twice more to get his hat trick for the only Mustangs tallies of the second quarter.
Then, with his team up 6-3 at halftime, Rayfield, less than two minutes into the third period, took a pass from Jimmy Cox and put a behind-the-back shot past Irish goalie Jake Gibson.
Cox and Adam Rayfield followed up with goals to make it 9-3, and Nick would add his fifth and sixth goals before the period ended, thwarting any possible Aquinas comeback.
Still, a seventh Rayfield goal came in the final period, along with tallies from Cox, Chris Doshna and Henry Lawrence. Donavan Fraher matched Nick Rayfield’s three assists, with Doshna and Adam Rayfield each earning two assists.
The state final at Hofstra University on Long Island is a rematch of 2023, the Mustangs challenging Cold Spring Harbor, the Long Island champions, who edged Pleasantville 6-5 in the other state semifinal and denied Marcellus 12-5 in that title game 12 months ago.
