Without intense defense, offense can’t carry a team anywhere special. Without intense offense, defense can’t carry a team anywhere special. Those are the two things that the Fayetteville-Manlius boys lacrosse team should take away from its 10-6 loss to West Genesee.
Even though the F-M defense was sub-par at the beginning of the contest, it eventually found itself and quickly took its shape. At the start the game, West Genesee seemed to get whatever it wanted, but as the game progressed, the Hornets (2-4, 1-3) tightened the screws, altered the game plan, and ultimately gave themselves and their teammates a chance to win.
That’s something that F-M’s coaching staff alluded to after the game. The coaches agreed and said that, with the exception of the goal West Genesee (9-1, 4-1) scored in garbage time, the defense held a very good offense to single-digits, and that should be enough to propel the team to a win.
Conversely, head coach Doug Madden and his assistants weren’t satisfied with how the offense performed. They said that the Hornets win as a team and lose as a team, but in the future, the offense has to improve and support that intense defense.
And then face-offs were problemsome in this one, just like they were in the loss to Jamesville-DeWitt. On the majority of restarts from the X, the Hornets would clamp the ball to the ground, but couldn’t complete the process by gaining possession. However, they weren’t the only thing that placed speed bumps in F-M’s path to victory.
Shooting posed another issue that the coaches felt needed to be addressed. Shot placement stole the spotlight for a minute or so, as it has from time to time this season. Madden told his guys that they have to stop shooting the ball where the goalie’s stick is before assistant coach Eric Wood said that they have to focus on just scoring the goal instead of ripping the net.
Still, F-M has to do a better job of getting good looks at the cage. There were times when time stood still and the ball was sitting in somebody’s stick, which killed the possessions. Moving forward, it is to be important that the guys in green and white learn to be unselfish and are willing to pass up good shots for great shots.
The Hornets have a tough battle on slate on Thursday at 2, when they host Baldwinsville. West Genesee hosts Syracuse on Thursday.
