Wildcats Swat Hornets For Section Title

They say that the King of the Jungle is at his most dangerous when wounded. Such was the case Saturday night as the West Genesee Wildcats written off as an also rans for the 2006 Sec. III title beat the pretenders to the throne with a thrilling 7-6 come from behind victory over the Fayetteville Manlius Hornets. For the 2006 edition of the West Genesee Wildcats boy's varsity lacrosse team (16-4) it was do or die Saturday evening at Cicero-North Syracuse High school against Fayetteville Manlius Hornets (18-1). Finishing the regular season with a 16-4 record the Cats had hoisted the unfamiliar role of underdog amongst their mostly underclass shoulders as they attempted to capture their 26th Sec. III title and fifth in a row.

The #17 State ranked Fayetteville Manlius Hornets with only one loss which had come against West Genesee at Coyne field on April 4, 10-5 a loss the Hornets avenged at West Genesee a month later to the day 10-7. So it was the Hornets, a team comprised of 15 seniors, four of the five top scores in Sec.III who looked to do what only one team had ever done as the 1992 Baldwinsville Bees beat the Cats in two consecutive meetings.

Foregoing their senior ball the Hornets took to the wind swept, rain soaked artificial carpet and nearly struck first as middie Ben Conger's shot bounced to the right of the Cat's junior John Galloway and skipped off the right post just 54 seconds into the game. Fayetteville middie Anthony Krisman then tried at 10:44 to beat Galloway with a shot he fired on the run, but Galloway was equal, dropping to his knees and smothering the shot. Genny answered the Hornets offensive foray by netting the first goal of the game 1-0 when senior middie Matt Grogan ran around Krisman's right and fired a shot that beat F-M goalie Kevin Fountain high on the off stick side.

The Cats continued to apply pressure at 8:24 as they kept the Hornets on their heels when junior attackman Colin Donahue shook his defender with a spin move only to have his shot deflect off the right post. With the Cats ball control offense running flawlessly early on it was sophomore middie Luke Cometti testing Fountain again at 8:06 with a bouncer that was snared by the Hornet goalie. However an aggressive ride by the Cats forced a turnover that was recovered by senior middie Kevin Courtney. Courtney's cross cage feed to Donahue went wide, but the Cats regained possession with some great sideline hustle. West Genny's grunt work then paid off moments later when it was Courtney beating his man at 6:21 and firing a shot past Fountain to take a 2-0 lead.

Genny continued to force the issue with Cometti firing a shot over the goal at 6:02 but was followed by a crease violation as Donahue tried making a move behind the F-M goal. Back on the defensive end the Cats found themselves a man down as senior defender Mark Kelly was called for a one minute illegal check at 5:37 on the Hornet's Greg Gilroy. Fayetteville couldn't take advantage of the man-up as Zack Greenky was stopped on the doorstep by Galloway with 4:46 to go. After both teams exchanged turnovers the Cats found themselves on a break at 3:38 as senior defenseman Jaren Woeppel raced down field and found junior attackman Brian Donahue, who fired a shot just wide. The shot was followed by another attempt at 3:03 by junior middie Aaron Printup but went wide and was backed up by the Hornets.

With a rare first quarter offensive possession and the clock winding down middie Nate Tucker wound up with a shot at 2:02 that went just wide. Conger followed with a spin around shot at 1:14 but again Galloway was equal with another great save. The Cats continued to dominate the offensive play and opened up a 3-0 lead when senior attackman Chris Schmidt grabbed a rebound off a Colin Donahue shot at 11:12 that struck Fountain who lost sight of the rebound and put it back in the net before the F-M goalie knew what had happened. At 10:42 it was Cometti using a slick left to right cross cage feed to junior attackman Adam Mazzoni whose one time redirect beat Fountain but hit the post. Sophomore middie Ryan Barber followed with another attempt at 10:22 but Fountain made the save and started the clear up-field.

With the Hornets teetering on disaster it was Adam Goldberg who used a left handed shot at 9:48 while running right to left in front of the Wildcats goal and snuck a shot between Galloway's legs to cut the lead to 3-1. The next several moments saw the Cats weather F-M's gathering storm as the Cats were called for a loose ball push, followed by an improbable warding call on Woeppel as he tried to elude an F-M attack man on a clearing play. Fayetteville finally made the Cats pay as Greenky snuck into the game off the sideline at 6:34 took a pass then beat Cometti up top a put a shot into the lower right corner of the goal to cut the lead to 3-2.

With 3:56 to go in the half F-M finally climbed all the way back as Nate Tucker used a long bounce shot that caught the upper right hand corner of the goal to knot the game at 3-3. With the Hornets seemingly taking control of the game Cometti tested Fountain twice, the first shot being a save, followed by a shot the caromed of the right post. Fayetteville followed with an attempt of their own but Galloway stood tall in the battle of goalies turning aside a Krisman point blank shot with 2:16 to go. With just 16 seconds left in the half Cat fans were ready to breathe a sigh of relief as it appeared Genny had dodged the worst of what F-M had to offer. But the Hornet defense caused Cometti to turn the ball over with 16 seconds to go then used a flawless fast break which was finished off by Scott Smith with just three ticks to go, the Hornets had used a four goal run to take a 4-3 and suddenly it seemed as if the end may actually be near.

The early third quarter had both teams exchanging shots and turnovers then at 7:28 the Cats Courtney cut to the crease before dishing to Collin Donahue who fired a leaping right hander to tie the game at 4-4. With the Cats finally back in the game Fayetteville tried to turn the tied as Tucker, Krisman and Goldberg each took a turn at the Genny goal, the first firing wide followed by two consecutive Galloway saves. As each team vied for control of the game the Cats Weoppel made a fantastic clearing run, weaving through a myriad of hacking F-M defenders before feeding Brain Donahue whose shot went just wide.

Fayetteville would take advantage of the Cats near miss netting two goals in a row. The first came off a highly questionable holding call after the Cats had regained possession of a turn over at 1:04. The Hornets took advantage of the call when Ethan Gilbert scored on a right handed bouncer in the top right corner with 56 seconds to put F-M on top 5-4. The Hornets then added insult to injury by winning the face-off and Conger netted a goal with eight seconds left with an assist from Tucker for a two goal 6-4 lead. With the Hornets in control Tucker almost put the game away at 10:58 but his right hand laser was snared by Galloway

With the Cats searching for an answer for the F-M onslaught it was senior middie Scott Cost to the rescue. Entering the game Cost wasted little time firing a right handed shot just wide right at 10:22. However Costs next shot would find its mark as he faked left turned his defender right and ripped a shot over Fountain's left shoulder to cut the lead to 6-5. The Cats would tie the game with 8:24 when junior middie Tim Desko used a nifty left handed pass to a cutting Cometti who ripped a shot past Fountain to tie the game at 6-6.

With less than five minutes to go the Hornets turned their offense loose as Greenky hit the left post with 4:51 left. At 3:33 longs stick defender Eric Twichell shot just wide, followed by Krisman whose shot went wide with 3:12 to go. Hornet's Dale Drypolcher followed with a shot that went over the net with 3:02 to go. Then things went from bad to unbearable as the Cats were called for a one minute cross checking penalty. The Hornets Tucker unleashed a shot wide with 2:33 to go and a hustling Galloway beat everyone to the end line to give Genny possession.

With the game and Sec.III title in the balance the Cats would finally catch a break as an F-M holding penalty with just 1:18 to go would give Genny a man-up. The Cats didn't convert right away, but just as the extra Hornet defender was reentering the field of play Colin Donahue found Schmidt sneaking down the crease, flipped him the ball and Schmidt redirected the ball past Fountain for an improbable 7-6 lead! Fayetteville won the ensuing face-off and called a time out. With 27 seconds left Krisman would get one last attempt but shoot wide, followed by a scrum for the ball that ate up the rest of the clock and any Hornet dreams of a Sec. III title.

So as the clock struck nine, the Cats had captured their 26 Sec.III title, fifth in a row. 12 of the last 13...and the Hornets? Their championship Chariot turned into a school bus, the glass slipper returned to where it belonged,and the" Section 3 Champions" crowns that someone made up for the team never saw the light of day. It's good to be king!