Cat Scratches is your place for current West Genesee Wildcat news and related lacrosse information. Check back often for all the latest.


If you have any West Genesee Wildcat lacrosse or related information or photos you would like to share, please send e-mail to laxmaster@wglax.com.

Deegan Inducted To Lacrosse Hall of Fame
• Congratulations to long-time Genny assistant Bob Deegan on his induction to the Upstate New York chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame on Sunday, October 19th. Along with Deegan, W.G. alumni Bill Bergan, coach of Clarkson University and Chris Kenneally, coach of Fayetteville-Manlius were also inducted.

'Cats Capture 15th State Title
• The Wildcats (21-3) captured their 15th NYS Boys lacrosse championship on Saturday, June 14th on the campus of Hofstra University against Section 8's Syosset Braves. The 'Cats overcame a 4 goal deficit early in the 3rd quarter by outscoring Syosset 9 -1 to post an 11-7 victory over the Braves. The 'Cats were led by MVP Jordan Rogers ( 3 goals, 1 assist) and senior attacker Ryan Barber (2 goals and 3 assists) Congratulations on a well deserved victory and total team effort on the season! Read the recap here

All-League Team Announced
• The following Wildcats were named to the all Central New York teams:

1st Team: Ben Waldron, Luke Cometti, Steve Mahle
2nd Team: Tim Besio, Jack Conboy, Jack Kennedy
3rd Team: Ryan Barber, Mike Fetterly, John Glesener, Joe Fazio

All-American: Luke Cometti

Central Empire Team
• Congratulations to the following Wildcats who were named to the 2008 Central Lacrosse Team for the Empire Games:

Ryan McConnell, Joe Fletcher, Jack Conboy, and Steve Mahle

Deegan's Meteorology Motorcycle Marathon
• Assistant varsity coach Bob Deegan has embarked on a one month scientific expedition across Canada. The plan is to make a long loop around western North America to collect water samples for meteorology and climate change research. The route will take Deegan and his two partners on motorcycles through Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana before returning to Syracuse July 25th.

Championship Add-on Decal available
• For those that have any of the current Genny lacrosse window decals on your vehicle, Jim Rogers has 2008 championship add-on's available at his Post Etc. business. Stop by and pick one up today!



Regional Action
• With the regional playoffs beginning, here is a breakdown of some games outside of Section 3:

Wednesday's results:
Syossett 9- West Islip 6
Yorktown 9- Niskayuna 6

Vestal 12- Ithaca 7
Canandaiguis 18- Irondequoit 5
Orchard Park 15- Niagara Wheatfield 13
West Islip 4- Ward Melville 3
Syosset 19- Long Beach 7
Niskayuna 8- Shaker 4
Yorktown 17- Lakeland-Panas 5

Senior All-Star game
• The following West Genesee Players have been selected to participate in the 2008 Senior All-Star game which will be held at West Genesee on Tuesday, June 17th at 7PM: Luke Cometti, Tim Besio, Ryan Barber, Mike Fetterly, Ben Waldron with Jack Kennedy as an alternate. Congrats guys!

Pepper Tournaments Right Around the Corner
• The 2008 edition of the John Pepper Tournaments for youth and varsity level Wildcat Invitational sponsored by STX are right around the corner. Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 2nd (Invitational) , and Sunday, August 3rd (youth).

Varsity teams participating are; Fayetteville-Manlius, Canandaiguia, Carthage, Penn Yan, Atlanta Elite, Yarmouth (ME), Penfield, Skaneateles, Bishop Timon, Baldwinsville, CBA, Watertown IHC, LaFayette, Oswego and West Genesee.
Stay tuned for more details coming soon or visit www.johnpepperlax.com


Senior Night
• The West Genesee Wildcats celebrated senior night on Thursday, May 15th with a 15-2 victory over Baldwinsville in their final home game of the year. The following a series of photos from the evening.

The class of 2008
Senior moms
Senior dads* (with Ryan Barber standing in for dad, Don Barber)

2008 captains
• above- senior, Luke Cometti, senior, Ryan Barber, junior Jack Conboy

Cat's Off To College
• The following Wildcats will be heading off to the following schools after their 2008 senior season:

- Owen Alberts- Onondaga
- Ryan Barber- Syracuse
- Tim Besio - Geneseo
- Luke Cometti - Albany
- Mike Fetterly - UMass
- Alex Iannicello - Cazenovia
- Jack Kennedy- Cortland
- Matt Lebuska - Niagara
- Eric Miccio - Onondaga
- Dan Stapleton - Plattsburgh
- Ben Waldron - Binghamton



Congrats to Geiss
• Congratulations to Gregg Geiss ('07) who was selected as freshman of the year while playing for St. Leo University (Fla. DII) as well as honorable mention for the All-Conference team in the Deep South Conference.

Track former Wildcat players in College
• Justlacrosse.com has developed a new player tracker that lists all current Central New York boys lacrosse players in college and links to the respective college or university website. Make sure to check out all the additional information related to lacrosse in Central New York. The feature is available by clicking the link here for Men's Player Tracker

Blast From The Past
• Check out the April 1964 article below regarding the growth of lacrosse in the Central New York community.