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Camillus, N.Y. -- 

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By Nolan Weidner | nweidner@syracuse.com

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Camillus, N.Y. -- With seconds left in today’s home girls lacrosse game against Skaneateles, West Genesee senior Matisyn Schaut made the strip then fed fellow senior Tara Osterdale, who beat Lakers’ goalie Ionna Christou to the low side.

Osterdale’s goal, with 3.3 seconds left in a back-and-forth game, gave the Wildcats a 14-13 victory over the 10-2 Lakers, ranked No. 1 in Class D this week.

The non-league victory could turn out to be an important one for the Wildcats, whose 7-6 record looks unspectacular until one looks at the quality of the schedule played by West Genesee, ranked No. 19 in Class A this week.

“We told (the girls) in the locker room that it was going to be one of those games,” said coach Drew White, who is in his first year with a rather young team at West Genesee after moving down from Fulton.

While the Wildcats have an uncharacteristic six defeats, every one of them has come at the hands of teams ranked in the Top 10 of one of the state’s four divisions - including losses to Baldwinsville (No. 1 Class A), twice to Fayetteville-Manlius (No. 2 Class B) , Westhill (No. 2 Class D), Canandaigua (No. 8 Class B) and Rush-Henrietta (No. 9 Class A).

“That’s one thing we do here is play tough teams, and it prepares them for games that are going to be tough - like this one," White said.

Though they never trailed in the contest, the Wildcats couldn’t shake the Lakers.

After West Genesee raced out to a 6-2 lead with just under 7 minutes remaining in the first half, the Lakers scored four straight to tie the game, 6-6, at halftime.

The Wildcats came out and scored three straight in the first 5 minutes of the second half, only to see Skaneateles tie it up with just under 17 minutes left to play.

And after the Wildcats went up, 13-11, on a free position goal by Halen Saroney with 2:31 left, the Lakers scored a pair of man-down goals in the next 35 seconds to knot the score at 13-13 with 1:56 to play.

West Genesee had a golden opportunity on a Schaut free position with 22 seconds left, but her stick was tipped and the shot sailed high. The referees ruled it was Skaneateles ball following the miss.

That’s when Schaut played one of the heroes on an excellent ride by the Wildcats.

“It was a really good effort by the offense, of riding the goalie, to get her to pass it to a defender,” Schaut said. “We just rode it, got the ball back and looked for the open player. She (Osterdale) was perfectly open right in front of the net. I just had to get it to her.”

Osterdale, who finished with three goals an an assist, said being so wide open down the middle made netting the game-winner more difficult.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” she said. “I’m glad I put it in. It’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders.”

Wildcats’ goalie Abby Bednarski had a big day in front of the net, coming up with six saves. She said the team was tested by the Lakers’ repeated comebacks.

“We just knew that we had to keep going and stay with it,” she said. “We knew we had to play good.”

Bednarski said the team has had a difficult season, but a win like today’s could give the Wildcats momentum down the stretch and into the playoffs.

“We have a list in our locker room of teams we wanted to beat. And this was one of them,” she said.

The Wildcats head into a challenging week with games against defending Section III Class D champion South Jefferson, another quality non-league opponent, on Tuesday then get a rematch Thursday against league-leader Baldwinsville on Thursday - one of the other teams on the West Genesee list.

The Lakers, who got a huge game from Riley Brogan (6 goals), will visit Homer and rival Marcellus before finishing up with a toughie at home against F-M.

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With over 11 girls getting on the board, the West Genesee Girls Varsity Lacrosse team improve their record with win over CNS 19-13. CNS was led by Fran Tortora, Molly Molchanoff, and Brooke Molchanoff. The Lady Wildcats are challenged again this Saturday, May 3rd, Home on the Mike Messere Field Turf against local rival, Skaneateles (10-2).

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FM beats West Genesee for the second time of the season 14-7. Matisyn Schaut led the Wildcats with 4 goals on the night. Courtney Reynolds, Eva Kloepfer, and Emily Stratton all ended the night one goal for the Cats. Two pairs of sisters led the FM team to the Tuesday Victory. Annie Steigerwald led her FM team with 9 points on the evening with 5 goals and 4 assists. Her sister, Kaylee Steigerwald had 2 goals to end the evening. Kiera Shanley had 4 goals while sister Katie Shanley had 1 goal and 1 assist.

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West Genesee Girls got back on the winning streak by defeating Liverpool on April 25th, 2019 after a tough past week fighting Upstate New York's top teams in Rochester. Though down at halftime 5-3, West Genesee fought their way back up to win with a 3 goal margin. The Wildcats ended the game with six different goal scorers. Emily Stratton and Sam Detor led the Cats with 4 points (2 Goals, 2 Assists) while Matisyn Schaut ended the evening with three goals.

The next game for the Wildcats is at home against local rival, Fayettville-Manlius. Game time starts 7:00pm on Tuesday April 30th, 2019.

By Victor Barbosa | vbarbosa@syracuse.com

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The Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team’s perfect record remained intact by the slimmest of margins Tuesday night, as the visiting Bees held on for an 11-10 win against West Genesee to move to 9-0.

Coach Megan Collins’ crew started out fast up 4-1, before the Wildcats responded with three in a row to knot things up midway through the opening half. Baldwinsville would soon regain control of the game and carry a 7-4 edge into the locker rooms.

The Bees - ranked first in the CNY high school girls lacrosse poll - later gained a 9-6 lead, before No. 8 West Genesee scored three times in a row to make it a 9-9 tie. The teams then alternated goals the rest of the way, with Baldwinsville putting in the game-winning tally with under four minutes to go.

Leading the way for the state’s top-ranked team in Class A in the win were Emma Gebhardt (four goals) and Katherine Pascale (three goals, one assist), who each recorded four points. In the loss, Matisyn Schaut scored three times and dished out one assist for four points as well.

By Phil Blackwell, High-School, Press-Observer

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the West Genesee girls, the fact that it never led in its game at F-M contributed to a sense of unease when, early in last Tuesday’s game against visiting C-NS, it stared at a 2-0 deficit.

But the state Class A no. 14-ranked Wildcats quickly regrouped and, with Sam Detor’s goal, put together a 5-0 run to lead for good, added six straight goals late in the first half and proceeded to defeat the Northstars 17-9.

All told, Detor produced two goals and five assists, anchoring a diverse attack where no one had more than Stratton’s total of four goals and Sophia Scialdone added three goals.

Tara Osterdale and Matisyn Schaut joined Detor with two-goal outings, single goals going to Elise Mancabelli, Halen Saroney and Gabby Meager as Mackenzie Winn earned a pair of assists.

Two days later, WG took on Rush-Henrietta, who was no. 16 in those same state rankings and had already beaten the likes of Skaneateles this season.

Here, a poor start doomed the Wildcats in a 14-9 defeat to the Royal Comets, who burst through WG’s defenses throughout the first half while building a 9-2 advantage.

Fighting back late, the Wildcats did see Stratton’s pair of goals ignite a strong second-half push as Osterdale, Saroney and Meager also scored, but the rally proved too late.

Yet another defeat loomed on Saturday, WG falling to Canandaigua 13-10 as, again, a rough start proved costly, the Braves sprinting to a 6-1 advantage midway through the first half.

Back-to-back goals by Winn helped the Wildcats roar back to within two, 8-6, by halftime, and when Stratton and Eva Kloepfer converted early in the second half, WG had pulled even, 8-8.

But Canandaigua closed strong, overcoming late goals by Stratton and Osterdale as the Wildcats fell to 4-4 and would have to deal with state Class A no. 2-ranked Baldwinsville Tuesday night before a Thursday trip to Liverpool.

WG’s boys would have its own games against B’ville and Liverpool, each of them crucial indicators of where the top Class A teams stand midway through the regular season.

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On the road to Rochester the past week led to some tough competition for the Lady Wildcats. While both games were fought hard, they unfortunately came up a bit too short.

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Individual Stats of the game:

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Matisyn Schaut (2 Goals, 2 Assists)

Courtney Reynolds (2 Goals, 1 Assist)

Mackenzie Winn (2 Goals)

Halen Saroney (1 Goal)

Elise Mancabelli (4 Goals, 1 Assist)

Tara Osterdale (2 Goals, 2 Assists)

Emily Stratton (5 Goals, 2 Assists)

By Phil Blackwell, High-School, Press-Observer

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So much of the history of area high school lacrosse, on both the boys and girls sides, has involved West Genesee and Fayetteville-Manlius, both with their own accomplishments and the battles they have waged against each other.

The great rivalry renewed itself again last Thursday night, in two locations, and in each case the Wildcats got the worst of it, the boys falling in a 6-5 decision at Mike Messere Field as the girls lost 13-9 on the Hornets’ home turf.

Having lost in overtime to Jamesville-DeWitt on April 6, WG’s boys knew that it could square things in a hurry by topping F-M, just as it did when it beat them in the 2018 Section III Class A finals.

Right from the outset, though, the Wildcats found itself playing lots of defense. Back-line players Brad James, Max Hahn and Chris Schahczenski were pressed into hard work containing F-M’s patient attack.

For a long while, that worked, especially in a second quarter where, up 2-1 thanks to goals by Anthony Dattellas and Ryan Sheehan, WG shut out the Hornets, maintaining that slim margin going into halftime.

Things began to change, though, when F-M sophomore Logan Wilkinson went into the face-off circle at the start of the third quarter. For the rest of the game, Wilkinson dominated the draws, allowing the Hornets even more time to probe and push.

Goals by Josh Michel and Mike Howe 44 seconds apart put F-M in the lead, and set up a chase where, three different times, WG would tie it, only to have the Hornets answer.

In the last of these instances, Dattellas found the net with 4:18 left, but less than a minute later, Max Cramer put F-M ahead to stay as Wilkinson won another face-off and the Hornets managed to burn off the last three minutes of the clock.

Meanwhile, at F-M, the West Genesee girls were seeking its third consecutive high-profile road victory to go with the ones it earned over CBA and Jamesville-DeWitt the week before.

What’s more, the Wildcats were well-rested, while F-M had endured a tough game against Baldwinsville two nights earlier and lost, 11-10, but as it turned out that defeat gave the Hornets a lot of motivation to not let that happen again.

F-M jumped out 4-1, only to have WG pull within one on goals from Halen Saroney and Matisyn Schult, but that set up the game’s frustrating pattern – every time the Wildcats inched closer, the Hornets would answer.

In particular, this hurt late in the first half when, trailing 5-4, WG saw F-M go on a 4-1 run, eventually spreading the margin to 10-6 by the time they reached halftime.

Early in the second half, the Wildcats almost caught up again. Emily Stratton scored, and back-to-back goals by Elise Mancabelli made it 10-9 with more than 18 minutes to play.

However, F-M called a time-out and, from that point forward, didn’t let WG score again, getting three goals in the next four minutes as Katie Shanley (five goals), Annie Steigerwald (four goals) and Kiera Shanley (three goals) led them most of the night.

Mancabelli and Stratton finished with three goals apiece, with Saroney and Schaut the only other goal-scorers. Between them, Abby Bednarski and Lily Goodsell made eight saves.

WG looked to bounce back Saturday when, after four road games, it finally played at home against Victor (Section V), the game turning into a shootout, but the Wildcats able to earn an 18-12 victory over the Blue Devils.

Most of the margin was built in the first half, WG going up 4-0 early and withstanding plenty of Victor charges, matching goals until it led 10-6 at intermission.

The Blue Devils again pushed in the second half, closing within 12-10 and 13-11, but WG closed strong as Stratton finished with five goals and two assists, Mancabelli adding four goals and one assist.

Schaut and Tara Osterdale both had two goals and two assists, with Mackenzie Winn and Courtney Reynolds also scoring twice and Saroney adding a goal.

Many more games loomed this week, the WG girls playing three times as it goes to Cicero-North Syracuse and finally has a home date Thursday with Rush-Henrietta before going to Canandaigua Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the boys Wildcats would try, on Tuesday, to halt C-NS’s three-game win streak before hosting Syracuse on Thursday and going to Hilton on Saturday.

By Phil Blackwell, High-School, Press-Observer

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What WG accomplished on Saturday at Jamesville-DeWitt was just as impressive as it weathered a massive comeback by the Red Rams to pull it out 11-10 in overtime.

WG built a 3-0 advantage before the Rams got on the board, and when it pulled back within one, 4-3, Winn’s fourth goal allowed the Wildcats to take a 5-3 edge to the break.

It got worse early in the second half, the Rams’ deficit growing to 9-4, but J-D preserved and, led by Lindsay MacLachlan and Ana Dieroff, it made its way back.

The Rams stunned WG with six unanswered goals to grab a 10-9 lead with little more than three minutes to play, but the comeback took a toll and, fighting back, the Wildcats pulled back even as Emily Stratton converted with 1:25 left.

Regulation ended 10-10, but in the overtime period J-D could not get to the ball, and the Wildcats got it back to Stratton who, off a feed from Sam Detor, put it past Skyler Constantino for the game-winner.

Stratton’s game-winner matched her with Winn for four goals apiece and helped to overcome Constantino’s 13 saves, plus four goals from MacLachlan and three goals from Dieroff.  Detor had three assists as Osterdale, Saroney and Elise Mancabelli had the other goals, Lilly Goodsell and Abby Bednarski combining for 12 saves.

So WG would take a 2-1 record into Thursday’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius, after which it finally has its home opener on Saturday against Victor at Mike Messere Field.

By Victor Barbosa | vbarbosa@syracuse.com

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The West Genesee girls lacrosse team had exactly one week to regroup after opening their 2019 spring campaign with a close loss against Westhill last Wednesday. The Wildcats did just that, shaking off a slow start in their road tilt against three-time defending sectional-champion Christian Brothers Academy and pulling away in the end for a 9-7 victory.

The bout was a Class A sectional title game rematch from last May, where the Brothers came away with a 6-4 win. It was also new head coach Drew White’s first win with the club.

“I give credit to the girls. They’re buying into two new coaches and it was a great team win tonight. I’m happy that we could get that CBA win for West Genesee,” he said. "We play CBA every year, one of the best teams in the state. Certainly (the players) were looking forward to this game, especially after the Westhill game. We have 15 more of these games. They’re all going to be dogfights.”

After going down 4-1, Tara Osterdale gave the visitors a bit of momentum by putting in her lone goal of the contest just before the first half ended. Matisyn Schaut and Emily Stratton kept West Genesee going to begin play after intermission, putting in their first of two goals apiece to knot it at four, before Sophia Scialdone netted the initial go-ahead goal.

The teams would then alternate strikes until it was tied at six, before Halen Saroney put the Wildcats in front for good. The victors scored seven times across the second half and featured seven different goal-scorers overall.

The array of contributors on offense was also a theme during West Genesee’s season-opener against Westhill, when they had six players score at least once.

“We like to build on that (offensive balance). We are striving to have more of a balanced offensive look at West Genesee,” White said. "At halftime, we got an opportunity to settle down a little bit and play our game. CBA did a great job on the draw in the first half and we adjusted.”

In the loss, both Gracie Britton and Gia Anthony scored twice for CBA.

By Victor Barbosa | vbarbosa@syracuse.com

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Bob Elmer’s head coaching debut with the Westhill girls lacrosse team nearly turned disastrous Wednesday evening, but a big-time save from freshman goalie Franny Argentieri in the final seconds landed the host Warriors an 8-7 victory over West Genesee.

The contest was a battle of brand-new coaches, as both Elmer and West Genesee leader Drew White were in their first games at the helm of their respective programs. Elmer is taking over for Brittany Brigandi, while White has replaced Kevin Hennigan.

An evenly played first half saw the victors holding a 4-3 edge at intermission. Led by Reilly Geer’s game-high five points on four goals and one assist, Westhill score the first four goals of the second stanza to up their lead to 8-3 at the 13:29 mark.

The Wildcats rattled off four consecutive scores over the next 13 minutes to cut the deficit to one though, before Argentieri stuffed the would-be equalizer in the tilt’s waning moments.

“(West Genesee) won the draw, they were being patient, and one of their better players got free and we were lucky that Franny came up with the big save," Elmer said of the final play. “When you’re playing a team like West Genesee, you always know that they’re going to be competitive and come back. I thought our girls did a nice job making a stand at the end there and not letting it get to overtime.”

Argentieri finished the win with 10 saves.

When asked to reflect on his first win with the new team, Elmer pointed to his supporting cast.

“All the credit goes to my assistant coaches and the players,” he said. "It feels great to look them in the eyes after a hard-fought victory.”