By TIM IRVING
Spencerport boys lacrosse topped Brighton 15-8 for the Rangers third straight victory.
“I love our team. We’re really unselfish, moving the ball, taking the smart shot, not the first shot,” said Rangers senior Austin Mandarano, after a five-goal performance.
The Bruins defense started well, leading to transition. Liam McGuire scored twice in the early going.
Sam Keens and Cam Mesh answered back with a pair of goals, the Rangers taking a 4-3 lead off a Mesh face-off win that Keens scooped and scored off of.
“Cam is a physical beast. He can play 60 minutes, everything’s there; smart player, hard-nosed, he’s fast and strong…he’s the real deal,” coach Bill Buttaro said of the junior.
The lead got to 5-3 with the Rangers running, John Choate to Mandarano for his first goal with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
Anthony Rodriguez completed the 3-0 run to make it 6-3 before Cal Oberst got one back for Brighton.
With just over three minutes left in the half, McGuire, who is heading to Vassar to play lacrosse, completed his hat trick.
But the Bruins spent a lot of time a man down due to penalties and Spencerport capitalized. Rodriguez scored his second of the game to leave an 8-5 halftime score.
And the Rangers came out of the halftime break rolling.
Rodriguez and Keens each scored their third goals in the first two minutes of the third quarter.
Rodriguez netted the fourth of his five goals before Mandarano scored three straight in a 59 second span to complete a 6-0 run. Justin Schnauber had three assists in that span and the lead was 14-6 after three.
Mandarano played sparingly last year but leads Spencerport in scoring with 23 goals this season.
“I had a feeling about him,” Buttaro said, “He’s a tremendous shooter, his lax IQ is through the roof, one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached.”
Mandarano said, “I like to react off the goalie, see what he’s doing, so if I drop and the goalie’s up, I’m gonna go low.”
Schnauber also had to wait for his opportunity until his final season and leads the Rangers with 22 assists and 31 points.
Spencerport (5-2) is riding a high right now after beating Webster Thomas on Tuesday night, the first win for the Rangers over the Titans in program history.
“Coming over here from the westside, playing hard against a couple of great programs, it’s a great boost for us, “ Buttaro said.
Mandarano added, “That was awesome. Our confidence is through the roof right now, we just wanna go on a big run.”
There are no easy games in Section V, the Rangers face McQuaid on Saturday before a big game against Canandaigua on Tuesday.
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