They’re calling it “the upset of a lifetime” in New York State high school lacrosse. The West Genesee Wildcats fell to the Ithaca Little Red by a score of 6-2. This will mark the first time West Genesee will not make the Class A finals since 2001, and it will be the first time Ithaca – or any Section IV team – has beaten the Section III champs since 1978.
After going up 2-0 in the first quarter, the Wildcats were held scoreless for the remaining 38 minutes by the Ithaca zone defense. Ithaca’s defense was led by the 13-save effort of Cornell University-bound senior goalie A.J. Fiore. Ithaca tied it up 2-2 on their way to punching in six unanswered goals to pull off the amazing upset.
“We played flat the whole game,” West Genny head coach, Mike Messere said. “We seldom showed any real energy out there, and we threw the ball away more times than we have in any game this year. Give credit to Ithaca – their defense played an outstanding game. Their zone caused us big problems. We just weren’t as patient as we needed to be.”
Another major factor for the Wildcats’ loss was Harvard University-bound Ithaca midfielder Mendola, who won all 12 of his face-off attempts. West Genesee is typically know for having great face-off men, but they drew blanks all game. Ithaca was able to control the ball and burn a lot of clock on each possession, especially in the second half once the Little Red took the lead.
Up next, Ithaca faces the winner of the western NY region, Orchard Park, on Thursday night. The winner of that game will face the winner of the downstate semi-final between West Islip and Yorktown, who also play on Thursday. The West Islip lacrosse program was featured in a cover story in the latest issue of InsideLacrosse magazine, and is considered the “team to beat” this year in New York State.
