Two local boys lacrosse team set out Tuesday in the Section III Class C playoffs — but only one made it through the opening round. Westhill, as the no. 7 seed, relied on first-rate defense to knock out no. 10 seed Onondaga 9-4 in last Tuesday’s opening round, while Marcellus, as the no. 8 seed, lost an 11-10 overtime decision to No. 9 seed Tully. Each side had an exciting match to look forward to if they won here. For the Warriors, a win meant a chance to go after no. 2 seed Cazenovia a week after losing a narrow 8-7 decision to the state-ranked Lakers. Marcellus, with a win, would go after unbeaten top seed Skaneateles — and for a long while, it looked like the Mustangs had enough to earn that opportunity. Seizing a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, Marcellus spent
most of regulation clinging to that small advantage, answering every Tully goal with a conversion of its own. The Mustangs spread things around, too, as seven different players scored. Greg Ramsden had three goals, while R.J. Linder scored twice. Matt McCaffer earned a goal and two assists as Luke McNaney and Steve Brissette each had one goal and one assist. Tyler Tomeny and Tom Glose added goals, too. Despite all this, Marcellus, up 8-6 going into the fourth quarter, could not hold on. Tully stormed back to tie it, 10-10, then prevailed when, with 1:43 to go in the first overtime period, Jake Guy beat Roger Trombley for the decisive goal. Trombley, in defeat, finished with 14 saves, yet watched as Guy, Chris Cook and John Sherlock each put in two goals in support of Kevin DeOrdio, who led the visitors with three goals and four assists. Down the road at Westhill, the main story, again, was how the Warriors’ defense shut down Onondaga, especially in the first half. All the Tigers could get was a single goal in those first two periods. A physical Westhill back line prevented open shots, and those that did go to the net got blocked as Mark McAnaney would stop 16 of the 20 shots he faced. Steadily, the Warriors built an 8-3 lead through three periods, then slowed things down. Tris Nicola roared back to form with three goals and one assist, while Dylan Tripodi also had a three-goal hat trick. John Zimmerman and Alex Lesins each had a goal and two assists as Austin Webb also converted and Sal Valenti added an assist. Westhill now goes to the Fenner Street complex to face Cazenovia, the winner to get LaFayette or Homer in Saturday’s semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.