It was supposed to be the game that opened Doug Madden’s career as the varsity lacrosse coach at Fayetteville-Manlius, but it ended up being a game that defines some of the things that he considers to be the most important aspects of a team.
Throughout its 11-8 win over Westhill, which was the makeup game from the snow out on April 5, F-M had multiple players get on the board, play as hard as possible, and refuse to be denied this victory, something that was on full display in the third quarter.
The Hornets turned this one around in an blink of an eye. In a 3:12 span soon after they returned from the halftime huddle, where Madden told them that the 4-3 lead they held was a result of them allowing Westhill to hang around, they awoke and scored three goals.
Although it will get mixed in with the other two, the first goal of the run was a pure representation of the unselfishness that Madden wants to engrave into this program, as Sam DiChristina planted himself besides the goal, received a pass from Chris Lubrino, the leader of the pack of sprinting Hornets down the field, and then lobbed to a cutting Kyle Gilroy, who caught the ball and, in the same motion, darted it passed the goalie.
That goal came with 8:21 left in the third quarter, but it had a lot of say in how the game unfolded. It provided F-M with the wave that it rode during the 3-0 spurt that carried it to its second straight win.
But, as exciting and encouraging as that moment was, there are other things to take away if you are on F-M’s side. The scoring was distributed among six Hornets, four of whom had multiple goals.
Nick Papa scored three goals, Lubrino had two, and Tommy Farry had three, but the goal that many will remember is Brendon Leuze’s. Leuze, whose father, Mike, is Westhill’s head coach, caused an eruption on the sideline when he scored.
Jack Shanley also gave the Hornets a lot of hope. He has been very quiet throughout the past few games, but wasn’t silent at all on Monday. He had two goals and two assists.
F-M beat Liverpool, 8-7, on Tuesday to improve to 5-5, 2-4. Westhill (9-3, 5-0) visits Homer on Thursday.
