West Genesee Turns Lights Out on the Northstars 13-6
 
 
The West Genesee boy's varsity lacrosse team captured their 25 Sec.III title and continued their 28 game undefeated streak with a 13-6 victory over the Cicero North Syracuse - North Stars. A scheduling quirk found Sec.III's number one  ranked Wildcats at the home of the Sec. III's second ranked Northstars for the Championship tilt.
 
The Northstars seemed to feed off their fans and home field advantage gaining an early 2-0 advantage. Cicero struck first at 8:17 when senior attackman Jeff Colburn backed Wildcat senior defenseman Sean Leahy to the edge of crease spun and fired a shot past senior goalie Dan McKeon's legs for a 1-0 lead. At 7:50  sophomore Nick Lococo found himself unguarded to McKeon's left and trickled a bounce shot into the right side of the cage and the Cats were back on their heels 2-0. Genny notched their first goal of the evening 2-1 less than 30 seconds later as senior middie Mark Cometti took a feed from senior attackman Dave Osier and quick sticked the first of his game high five goals past CNS senior goalie Dan Brown while getting mugged by several
Northstar defenders.

Senior middie Jeff Ryan knotted the game at 2-2 with his first of five goals with 5:37 to go taking a feed from Osier who was behind the cage. The remaining five minutes of the first quarter found both teams searching for an opening that would give them an advantage headed into the second half, with just 24 seconds to go the Cats found it. Once again it was Osier connecting with Ryan who snuck down to the crease and redirected a shot past Brown for a 3-2 lead.
 
The Cats Dave Osier who led all scorers  with six points, all assists nearly got a goal at 10:57 as some deft stick work and heads up play allowed him to steal a CNS pass and he suddenly found himself 30 yards from Dan Brown with nothing but green carpet ahead. However it wasn't to be as Osier was quickly pursued by a wave  of Blue defenders and hurried his shot went wide to the left of the CNS goal.

It wasn't until the 5:17 mark of the second that the Cats finally registered their fourth goal of the night, 4-2 with Cometti taking a feed from senior attackman Tim Spillett.
The Northstars refused to quit however as Loccoco the Northstars leading point getter with 81  let loose a close range shot that was sticked aside by McKeon, but the Cats were called for a slash on the play giving the Stars a one minute man-advantage.
Senior CNS middie Justin Ianzito made the Cats pay as he unleashed a jumping right handed shot over his defender that  just grazed the left shoulder of McKeon cutting the lead to 4-3 with 4:13 to go.

CNS continued the heavy pressure at 3:27 looking for an opening in the Genny defense and nearly got  it as Colburn found a crease and whipped a shot in McKeon's direction, but the senior goalie calmly stood his ground and gathered the shot in his stick. Genny did find the range again 5-3 with 2:52 to go with Cometti bouncing a hard right-hander with an assist from Osier. As was the case for the better part of this game however a Genny goal would lead to more furious attempts by CNS to get back in the game and Commeti's third of game brought no reprieve. Once again it was McKeon making a point blank save on Ianzito, then knocking down a cross cage feed and starting a Genny fast break.

With the Stars hanging on just before half-time the CNS locals began to buzz wishing for a late goal in hopes of giving the Cats some food for half-time thought.But Ryan had different ideas as he positioned himself yards from the front of the CNS goal, took a feed from Osier and as the game announcer counted down the half, three, two, one...horn, a spray of water exploded from just under the cross bar as Ryan's right handed blast ripped rope and sent the Cats and their fans ecstatic into the half and a 6-3 lead.
 
Genny began the third quarter with a goal by senior middie Tom Collins just under two minutes in as his left hander found it's way past Brown for a 7-3 lead. Collins the Utica bound senior has continued to be a force off the bench for the Cats as the season has gone on.His sense of the game, calmness, physical presence and ability to find the net will be a great asset as the Cats continue through the playoffs.
The Stars however responded as they had all night and came right back as Ianzito put a seeing eye shot that just snuck past McKeon and the lead was back to three at 7-4 with 9:04 to go.

With neither side able to steal the game away Brown and McKeon exchanged several fine save as both offenses searched for the knock out shot. The Stars seemed that they may have found that shot as they notched their second in a row 7-5 as Ianzito found the five hole, dropping a shot between McKeon's legs as the Cats served a 30 second penalty. But the Cats found some resiliency of their own in the right hand of senior middie Griffin who ripped a right hander just over the outstretched stick of Brown for an 8-5 lead with 1:50 to go. The Cats looked to have finally applied the dagger 9-5 as once again they scored with no apparent time on the clock to end the third as Cometti took a feed from freshman Ryan Barber and lit the lamp as the score board read 0:00.
 
The fourth quarter began with another timley stop by McKeon as the never say die Stars continued to scratch and claw the Cats. Senior middie Tim Griffin followed McKeon's stop with a near miss of his own as his shot from Browns right skidded on the soaked turf past Brown only to find the bottom half of the post and ricochet skyward. Collins made it stick just 14 seconds later as his second left hander of the game made it 10-5 Genny their largest lead of the game. Ryan then netted his fourth at 7:47 with a shot that squeaked past Brown and the post for an 11-5 lead.

The Cats continued to force the issue with a sweet passing sequence that found Tim Griffin to Brown's left hitting Spillett who was wide open, but Spillett's re-direct was met by an equally amazing save as Brown went to his knees and sticked the shot aside. In the scramble after the save Cometti grabbed the bouncing ball circled back to the goal and fired a bouncer past Brown with 6:21 to go. It seemed as though the Cats had finally broken the Northstars will as the goal left the CNS defenders arguing amongst themselves and finally an official had to break the frustrated defenders apart from one another. Genny finally emptied the stands and the Northstars hopes as Collins found Osier who hit Ryan for his fourth of the game helping the Cats capture the Sec. III Class A title with a 13-6 victory.
  1 2 3 4 final
West Genesse 3 3 3 4 13
Cicero North Syracuse 2 1 2 1 6
Cometti 5-0, Ryan 5-0, D.Osier 0-6, Collins 2-0, B. Griffin 1-0, Barber 0-1, Spillett 0-1
SAVES: McKeon 16
Click on an image below to view a game highlight Quicktime movie
Jeff Ryan gets the 'Cats going Brian Griffin from deep Cometti tallies as time winds down
Tom Collins bulls to paydirt Ryan scores at the countdown Cometti with one of his 5 goals