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CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

CNS vs WG BLAX 2026

Photo Credit: Rich Barnes

Boys Lacrosse 5/13/2026 5:59:00 AM Connie Pignatello

Defending champ West Genesee edges Cicero-North Syracuse in heart-pounding boys lacrosse thriller

Defending champ West Genesee edges Cicero-North Syracuse in heart-pounding boys lacrosse thriller
As players, coaches, team managers, fans — and yes, even referees — walked off the field Tuesday night, everyone took a collective deep breath. In possibly the most intense game of the Section III boys lacrosse season, defending sectional champion West Genesee (10-4) dealt challenger Cicero-North Syracuse its first loss of the season, 13-12.

5/12 - 7:00 PM Boys lacrosse	Final
West Genesee	13
Cicero-North Syracuse	12

Complete Box Score »
"100%," Wildcats senior midfielder Nash Oudemool said when asked if this was the most intense game West Genesee had played this season. "Just because it's going for the league." Neither team led by more than two goals at any point in a tilt that featured seven ties and seven lead changes. After everyone exhaled, they braced for what could come in just 18 days: a rematch in the Class A sectional championship game. West Genesee, long the standard bearer in Section III boys lacrosse, is the defending champion. C-NS has never won a sectional championship, but this year's team might be stronger than any the Northstars have ever fielded. "It's about what we expected, we got two really good teams with two great offenses going at it with a lot of good players on both sides of the field," Northstars head coach Chuck Wilbur said. "I think it was an entertainment game for the fans. Hopefully, we get another shot at them, but that's a great team and we've got to get a little bit better for hopefully next time around." To add to the drama, over in Camillus, C-NS girls lacrosse spoiled West Genesee's perfect start to the season with a 14-8 win. The Northstars beat the Wildcats in last year's thriller of a sectional championship game, but West Genesee had taken the first meeting of the season back on April 23 and was 13-0 before Tuesday night. Just minutes apart, the only two surviving perfect seasons in Section III lacrosse were both extinguished. C-NS scored the game's first two goals in the early minutes as West Genesee struggled with turnovers and faceoff violations. But as the quarter went on, they played physical defense and got back into their game. By the end of the quarter, two Luke Lockwood goals had the game tied 3-3. The Wildcats and Northstars traded goals throughout the second quarter, often answering within a minute of each other. The Wildcats finally took their first lead of the game, 7-6, after Oudemool deked Northstars goalie Noah Samphier from in close. C-NS took possession with about a minute left in the half and gave the ball to Adrian Sweeney to stall near the midfield line and keep the clock running. But as soon as he started moving towards the goal, West Genesee defender Logan DeWaters stick-checked his stick right out of his hands, and Jeffrey Mercer tallied at the other end to send the Wildcats to halftime with an 8-6 advantage. "Logan DeWaters had a great, great game," West Genesee head coach Eric Burns said. "He had the very, very difficult task of guarding (Sweeney), and he's a phenomenal player, an SU commit. (Sweeney) still got his, but Logan played very well." C-NS' Luke Deinhart and Jack Putman scored early in the third quarter to tie it, and the Northstars took a 9-8 lead when the ball deflected off of DeWaters and into the Wildcat goal. Lockwood tied the game with two minutes and change left in the third quarter and then fed Hunter Cole for the go-ahead goal 30 seconds into the fourth. Sweeney wasn't done yet though. He notched his third goal of the game on a behind-the-back score from point-blank range. Anytime he scored, the Northstar bench roared to life. But with 7:08 left, West Genesee delivered the pivotal sequence of the game. Liam Kelly scored to put the Wildcats up 11-10, and on the ensuing faceoff, DeWaters scooped up the ground ball and never broke stride on his way to his first goal of the season. West Genesee's bench erupted. Blake Fefee drew the Northstars back within one, but Lockwood answered by somehow finding a hole between Samphier's legs to put West Genesee back up by two with 4:32 left. From then on, West Genesee didn't score, but they played a sufficient amount of keepaway to bleed the clock and forced a few crucial turnovers, including one on Sweeney driving to the cage with less than two minutes remaining. Deinhart scored on a Hail Mary pass with 10 seconds left, but C-NS didn't get another chance to tie it. "They're a quality team. They're highly skilled on offense. They out-ground balled us big-time," Burns said. "But when it came down to the end, we were able to make a couple plays, we were smart in transition and lucky to come out with the win." Lockwood led West Genesee with four goals and two assists, followed by Mercer with three goals. Midfielders Sweeney and Putman led C-NS with three goals apiece, while Deinhart supplied two goals and two assists and Quinn Empey added two goals. Sam Vormwald and Santino Sanford combined to win 19 of 28 faceoffs for the Wildcats. West Genesee beat C-NS three times last year, including an 18-7 decision that knocked C-NS out of the playoffs in the Class A semifinals. The Northstars have not beaten the Wildcats since both teams' head coaches were hired to their posts in the fall of 2021, a string of nine straight games. But aside from one contest in 2022 that ended with an 8-7 West Genesee win, Tuesday's 13-12 decision was the closest of all of those meetings. "One of the best high school games I've been to in a long time," a referee said as he walked off the field Tuesday night. "I can feel my heart beating," said West Genesee's team manager Brody Atwater. If they face off again at the end of May, expect more of the same. "It was a close game, played against a really good opponent," Wilbur said. "It was fun. That was really fun."

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THE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF THE CICERO-NORTH SYRACUSE NORTHSTARS

Defending champ West Genesee edges Cicero-North Syracuse in heart-pounding boys lacrosse thriller

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