Cortland Standard .net

This game lived up to its advanced billing, as two state-ranked Section 3 Class C lacrosse teams clashed on Coaches versus Cancer Night at George Butts Field Friday.
After trailing 7-3 in the third quarter, host Homer Central battled back to take an 8-7 lead in the final two minutes of play.
While that impressive comeback had the Trojan faithful excited, Sam Duggan scored two goals in the final minute — including the game-winner with 29 seconds left — to lift 20th-ranked Skaneateles to a 9-8 non-league lacrosse victory over the 16th-ranked Trojans.
Duggan finished with four goals and an assist as the Lakers improved to 7-3 overall, while the Trojans slip to 6-3.
“We didn’t come out of halftime well,” Homer coach Tom Cottrell said. “We are beating the teams we are suppose to beat. We just need to find a way to win the close games.”
The first two quarters saw Skaneateles score and Homer answer to tie things up. Duggan scored once and Alex Dunn tallied twice in the first quarter for a 3-2 lead. Both Trojans goals came from Anthony Basile with Dean Riley assisting.
Basile got his three-goal hat trick to open second quarter scoring with 5:25 left in the half. Jerrad Reiner was credited with the assist. Cullen McGlynn answered for the Lakers with 2:53 to go by swatting a loose ball into the goal for a 4-3 halftime lead.
Duggan and Devin Callahan scored at the 10:23 and 9:07 marks respectively as Skaneateles bolted to a 6-3 advantage early in the third quarter. McGlynn assisted both times. Dunn found the cage off an Owen Kuhns helper with 5:31 left in the third quarter and the Lakers appeared to be in control with the four-goal cushion.
THE TROJANS NEEDED a spark and Brody Urban responded. His unassisted tally with 27 seconds left in the quarter stopped the Lakers’ run. A loose ball scramble off the ensuing face-off led to Riley recovering the ball and firing a pass to Basile who beat Skaneateles goalkeeper Kyle Oschner (10 saves) with one second left to pull Homer to within 7-5.
Homer rode that late-goal momentum into the fourth quarter. Basile found Reiner free and the junior responded with an on-target shot with 10:39 left in the game as the Trojans trailed 7-6. Four minutes later, Basile found Urban running free and this junior collected his second goal of the night and sixth in two games to tie the game at 7-7.
Homer had all the momentum and took its only lead of the game with 1:56 to play. Basile notched his fifth goal of the evening with an assist from Brad Sovocool. All the Trojans needed to do was find a way to run out the clock.
The Trojans won the face-off, but a warding off foul with 1:44 to play gave the ball back to Skaneateles. Duggan broke in on goal and beat Trojan netminder Mark Suits (seven saves) with 59 seconds remaining to tie the game at 8-8. Just 30 second later, Duggan scored the game-winner and the Lakers escaped with a one goal victory.
With face-off ace Ryan Gabriel gone for the season after breaking his collarbone in the Cortland game, Tylar Ponticello became the main man at the X and he responded by winning seven-of-16 opportunities. Bailey Wood was one-for-four for the Trojans .
“Tyler performed well,” Cottrell said. “He was put in a very difficult situation against a very good team. He really did step up tonight.”
BASILE BROKE OUT of his mini-scoring slump with his five-goal effort and he added two more assists. Urban also upped his game against a tough opponent.
“Anthony really shot the ball very well tonight,” Cottrell said. “He saw he had a favorable match-up with the Skaneateles defense. He caught the ball, found the openings and finished.
“It was great to see Brody get two more goals,” he continued. “He really played hard and he played well. In all, it’s nice to see all the guys aren’t as worried about individual stats this season. They are more concerned with what the team does overall. We need that going to J-D Monday night,”
Homer will be back in the first Monday as the Trojan varsity travels to Jamesville-DeWitt for the 6 p.m. non-league clash. Homer will then host Chittenango Tuesday at 7 p.m. with a JV start at 5 p.m.
HOMER JVs bounced back from Thursday’s loss to Jamesville-DeWitt with a 10-5 victory against Skaneateles Friday night on Butts Field.
Tucker O’Donnell (one assist) and Vinny Basile each scored three goals as the Trojans posted the 10-5 win. Homer improved to 7-2 on the season.
“We had good start even after playing yesterday,” Homer coach Nick Patriarco said. “We hit a bit of a wall in the second and third period and ended up playing a lot of defense. The good news was our defense was strong and we didn’t give up a lot of goals. The guys found something extra in the fourth quarter. Their tremendous effort and improved decision making put the game away.”
Homer led 2-1 after the first quarter, but fell behind 4-3 at halftime. The Trojans fought back to tie the game at 5-5 after three quarters before netting five fourth-quarter goals to pull away,
In addition to O’Donnell and Basile, Jake Riley, Lars Roos, John Horner and Dante Yacavone each netted one goal. Jake Riley also handed out three assists while Max Riley Justin Wainwright had one helper each. Mike Turck made seven saves in the Trojan goal.