Just nine days after the Fayetteville-Manilus girls lacrosse team had last seen West Genesee, the pair were at it again in Thursday’s Section III Class A semifinal at Solvay’s Earl Hadley Stadium. With a berth in the championship game (not to mention the Wildcats’ four-year reign as sectional champions) at stake, the no. 4 seed Hornets kept up with the frantic pace, for a while, but still watched WG prevail by a score of 18-10. Above all other things, F-M wanted to avoid the Wildcats starting fast, yet it trailed 3-0 after three minutes, forcing head coach Katie Noel to use a time-out to calm her players down. That seemed to work, as for the next 12 minutes the Hornets shredded through WG’s defense. Six different players scored, helping F-M pull within one, 7-6. However, WG made its big move in the latter stages of the first half, scoring five straight goals and getting big saves from Rachel Watkins, who replaced Libby Byrne in goal. Trailing 12-7 at the break, the Hornets never got closer in the second half, though it played hard to the end. Morgan Same, Lindsay Trachtenberg and Marri Ryu each finished with two goals. Alex Murphy, Mollie Caputo, Marilyn Farrell and Katie Sipple earned single tallies as Stephanie Rutkowski made 10 saves. WG’s Emily Tripodi piled up eight assists, often feeding it to Erica Geremia, who got six goals. The loss to West Genesee ended a 10-8 campaign where F-M, with an all-new defense and several other new players in key roles, endured a brutal schedule to return to the sectional semifinals. Just six seniors graduate, including Sipple, Caputo, Farrell and Same, so a large returning cast in 2012 could mean a renewed championship push.