Off a defeat to Westhill, the Jordan-Elbridge boys lacrosse team would get a chance at recovery in Thursday’s game at Marcellus, but could not pull it off as the Mustangs played well in the late going and prevailed 13-6. A
fter a slow start from both sides, Marcellus began to assert itself in the second period, gaining a 6-4 lead. But its best work came after the break, when the defense clamped down, holding J-E to single goals in each of the last two periods. Meanwhile, the Mustangs pulled clear as Carmen Brienza earned four goals, with Matt McCaffer getting two goals and two assists. R.J. Linder, Luke McNaney and Tyler Tomeny also produced two-goal outings, giving Mracellus further depth as Greg Ramsden added a goal and two assists. On J-E’s side, Dylan Johnson earned three goals and two assists and Jeff Guadagnolo added two goals and one assist, while Aurie Schwarting had the other goal. Smart finished with 12 saves. Meanwhile, Westhill was taking its shot at undefated, state no. 2-ranked Skaneateles, and made a very strong effort, even though it lost to the Lakers 10-6. All through the first half, the Warriors proved it was not intimidated in any way by Skaneateles, maintaining a reasonable pace and converting several times against the vaunted Laker defense. It even won the second quarter, 3-2, and went to the break trailing by a single goal, 6-5. Talk of an upset was everywhere.
That quieted, though, as the second half wore on. Westhill dictated the tempo, not letting the Lakers unleash its full-throttle offense, but could not convert, either, as Skaneateles mostly relied on that defense to stay out in front. John Zimmerman had three goals, half of the Warriors’ output, with Austin Webb, Alex Lesins and Tris Nicola getting one goal apiece. Sal Valenti and Dylan Tripodi added assists as McAnaney had 12 saves. Kevin Rice and Kelly Donigan led Skaneateles, each getting three-goal hat tricks. Marcellus needed the win over J-E, at least in the wake of a 10-7 defeat to Christian Brothers Academy, who kept its playoff hopes alive. All looked well in the first half, as the Marcellus defense contained CBA. Yet it could not build upon its early lead and, only up 4-2 at the break, were vulnerable to a charge from the Brothers. Sure enough, CBA found its offense and, by outscoring the Mustangs 5-2 in the third period, it moved ahead for good. Jared DePalma (five goals, two assists) and Cody Radziewicz (three goals, one assist) led the comeback. As for Marcellus, Ramsden and Steve Brissette led with two goals apiece, while McCaffer, McNaney and Brienza each got single goals. Linder and Tom Glose added assists as goalies Roger Trombley and Brad Stowell combined for 15 saves. To complete a week-long round-robin among the local teams, Westhill met Marcellus on Saturday and blew past the Mustangs by a score of 16-7. The Warriors took the lead for good quarter and outscored the Mustangs 14-5 in the last three periods. By himself, Tris Nicola matched Marcellus with seven goals, adding a pair of assists. Dylan Tripodi had five assists to go with his pair of goals, while Owen Nicola found the net three times. John Zimmerman added two goals and three assists as Sal Valenti picked up a goal and two assists and Lesins also scored. Not able to keep up with that, the Mustangs saw Ramsden earn three goals and Brissette score twice, while McCaffer got a goal and two assists and McNaney add three assists. Brienza had the other goal.