The good news is that Fayetteville-Manlius found a way to win when they weren’t at their best. The bad news is that they weren’t the best lacrosse team that they can be.
Those are the words that come to mind when looking at F-M’s 8-5 road victory over Cicero-North Syracuse.
F-M (6-2, 3-1) continued to have their fair share of struggles, something that has been an issue for a few of the previous games. Against Skaneateles, things like passing and catching caused problems for the Hornets, but, this time, the problem was offensive execution.
Although four players scored for F-M, the Hornets weren’t on their game, something that was emphasized by a frustrated Donovan Welsh after the game.
The coaching staff had comments that were similar to what Welsh had to say. Throughout the game, they were urging their team to move the ball and get it behind the goal.
Head coach Chris Kenneally did point out that he was encouraged by the way that Brett Barlow played. Barlow had a takeaway and scooped up five ground balls, which only trailed Tommy Angelicola for the team-high in the category.
But penalties hurt the Hornets. Although the four penalties they committed isn’t an overwhelmingly high number, they were frustrating. Welsh and Mac Fish were called for a penalty apiece.
At the beginning, Welsh and his team got off to a slow start and were down 2-1 at the end of the first quarter. But they gutted it out and the Fairfield University commit put his team on his shoulders and led them to a victory.
Welsh was responsible for seven Hornet goals and had five goals and two assists. James Rettinger also added to his total for both goals and assists with one apiece.
Ryan Cicci and Nick Papa also scored goals that allowed F-M to come out with the victory.
