The Cicero-North Syracuse boys lacrosse squad had a comfortable through two periods, but quickly lost it in the second half against Section V's Webster Schroeder on Saturday.
This led to the contest going down to the wire. With 2.2 seconds left in regulation, senior Rocco Villano notched the game-winning goal to help the Northstars escape with an 9-8 victory over Webster Schroeder.
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"It was a great win against a very good Webster (Schroeder) team," C-NS coach Chuck Wilbur said.
C-NS maintained a 5-2 lead at the half and led by as much as 8-4 in the third period. From there, however, Webster Schroeder began to climb back into the matchup.
Webster Schroeder netted four unanswered goals between the third and fourth periods. It included a goal to knot it at 8-8 with under two minutes to go in the game.
The Northstars had their backs against the wall in the waning minutes of the final period, but Wilbur and his players thankfully had a timeout to reset as a unit.
With a game plan in place, C-NS players fed the ball to Villano. The senior standout, who will play for the Division-I Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team next year, zipped a shot from the top of the left corner that was just out of reach of the Webster Schroeder goalie.
"Rocco is one of our good shooters, so we took that timeout to set up a nice shot for him," Wilbur said. "He was able to finish."
Villano recorded three goals and an assist in his effort for the Northstars.
"Rocco's been around the block a bit. He's never rattled," Wilbur said. "He's one of the better shooters in the area, and he's always a very high-level player."
Adrian Sweeney chipped in three goals and an assist for C-NS. Donovan Chaney provided two goals and Blake Fefee also scored. Cy Liberman contributed three assists. Goalie Leyton Sullivan recorded nine saves.
The Northstars, now 3-0 on the season, host South Jefferson next Saturday at noon.
"We played a tight one today, but we're a young team trying to figure it out as we go," Wilbur said. "We're trying to get better every day. A good thing about today is that I didn't see panic in our players. It was just a bunch of young kids enjoying the experience of playing a good team."
