In one of the season’s most exciting contests, the Marcellus girls lacrosse team chased Christian Brothers Academy down in the late stages of last Monday’s game, then inched in front for a 17-16 victory over the Brothers. Neither side was too strong on the defensive side — until the very end, that is. Twice in the last 20 seconds of regulation, the Mustangs denied CBA when it had a chance to tie the game once again and force overtime. Prior to that, goals proved plentiful. The Brothers went out in front early and, every time Marcellus charged at them, CBA would answer. That dance continued in the second half. The Mustangs, down 9-8 at the break, kept pace and finally caught and passed the Brothers in the last five minutes. At the heart of all this, Kate Gosson pushed in six goals, backed up by Nora Barry’s total of four goals. Stephanie O’Rourke (three goals) and Meghan Connors (two goals, three assists) also had productive outings, while Erin Walter and Leea Sinay also scored. Denise Johns joined Sinay in the assist column. CBA’s Katie Webster kept her team in it with seven goals and two assists. On Friday night, the Mustangs went to the north country to face Carthage, Class B champions each of the last two years but in the Class C ranks this spring. While it certainly expected a battle, the Mustangs hardly expected the Comets to dominate them — but that’s what happened in the course of a 21-4 defeat. All game long, the Mustangs found itself in a defensive mode, unable to withstand all of Carthage’s attacks. Katie Ferris put in nine goals by herself, while Gabrielle Kamide had six assists. Alexis Egeberg (four goals), Katherine DeRonda (three goals, five assists) and Kallah Kempney (three goals) flourished, too. By contrast, Marcellus didn’t get a chance to show much of its offense, as Johns, Connors, Gosson and O’Rourke had the team’s only goals. The Mustangs (8-3) will be favored in games this week against Tully, Homer and LaFayette before the slate gets tougher in the last two weeks of the regular season.