An absence of a backup offensive gameplan haunted Fayetteville-Manlius when they hosted Cicero-North Syracuse, a team that they beat at the beginning of the year, and led to the 10-8 loss.
C-NS gave F-M the same medicine that teams have used to beat them previously, using the zone defense to prevent the Hornet players to display their athleticism in one-on-one matchups and forcing them to move the ball.
When the Hornets traveled to C-NS earlier in the season, they found an equation in the second half after a tough opening two quarters and ended up winning by a score of 8-5, but, this time, there was no second chance.
F-M fell behind little by little in the game, but it felt like the contest was totally out of reach from the start. The sideline wasn’t as intense and energized as it has been in the past, the ball wasn’t moving as much as it had been, and the Hornets just couldn’t get over the hump.
As Hornet head coach Chris Kenneally said after the game, the bottom line is that they just have to play better lacrosse like they are capable of. He was satisfied with the defensive effort, but, was convinced that the offense didn’t reach its potential.
It wasn’t all bad, though.
F-M’s Zak Van Valkenburg absolutely dominated the face-off circle. Van Valkenburg won all six face-offs in the first quarter and won 19 of 21 throughout the entire contest.
When it comes down to it, the problem that was the most disruptive towards the Hornets gameplan was the same as it has been for the past few games. It was the way that Donovan Welsh was swarmed whenever he possessed the ball.
Welsh ended up with a point, just like three of his teammates. He scored one goal, which is the same thing as what Luke Hamel accounted for and then Van Valkenburg and his fellow midfielder, Tommy Ryu, chimed in with assists of their own.
And then F-M had four players with multiple points. Luke Burnam had two goals and an assist while Brett Barlow netted two goals of his own. Mac Fish recorded one goal and two assists and Nick Papa scored one and assisted one.
Goalkeeper Ryan Boshart also had a good game to support F-M, but it wasn’t enough to get the win over C-NS.
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