Both times they met this season, the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse-Minoa girls lacrosse teams played on fairly even terms. Still, the Red Rams would pull off a sweep. They won the first time in cold wind and rain on April 28, and would prevail again in hot sunshine on Thursday afternoon, staging a big second-half comeback to beat the Spartans 10-8. ESM (12-6) won most of the first-half draws, and its attack found some success working against J-D’s defense. Led by Carissa Ficarro, who would finish with four goals, the Spartans doubled the Rams’ output and carried a 6-3 lead to the break. Whatever adjustments J-D (17-1) made at halftime, they sure seemed to work. Picking up the tempo, the Rams caught up in a hurry, and Tara Prosak also improved, accumulating 15 saves to thwart ESM’s attempts to answer. Meredith Howe led the comeback with a three-goal hat trick. Tori Nies and Emily Johnson each scored twice, with Ashriel West getting one goal and one assist. Molly Maroney and Liz Beville also scored. Other than Ficarro, Gina Campese proved to be ESM’s main threat, with two goals and one assist. Allyson Rossi, who didn’t play in the April 29 loss to J-D, had one goal, as did Lauren Greiner. J-D got a test last Monday night, at Chittenango, needing a strong second half on both sides of the ball to beat the Bears 12-6. Led by Jenna Barber and Jessica Antelmi, each of whom had two goals, Chittenango played the Red Rams to a 5-5 first-half draw. Gradually, J-D’s defense, led by Emily Luckette and Alex Freeman, shut the door on the Bears, and the attack loosened up enough to build a comfortable margin down the stretch. West had three goals and one assist, with Maroney and Kate Byrnes each finding the net twice. Beville had a goal and three assists, with Howe getting one goal and two assists. Johnson, Nies and Claire Kopp also scored. A day later, the Red Rams went to Cortland and got a bigger scare, grinding all the way through a 6-5 win over the Purple Tigers. From the moment the game started, Cortland dictated the tempo, slowing things down and using long possessions and success on both ground balls and draws to stay within range. Despite all this, J-D edged in front, 3-2, by halftime, and had most of the scoring chances, only to keep getting thwarted as Cortland goalie Caitlin Cottone made 18 saves. Beville, Maroney, Byrnes, Howe, West and Taylor Bierwagen each scored once to help the Rams pull through. ESM, meanwhile, played at Fulton last Tuesday, roaring past the Red Raiders 16-6 with a steady attack that won each half by equal 8-3 margins. Rossi, with six goals, matched Fulton all by herself, and she added three assists. Ficarro had four goals and two assists, with Angie Smith scoring twice. Campese, Alyssa Anderalli, Amber Corey and Marlee Vlassis also scored. Katie Cook stopped 12 of the 18 shots she faced.