SALAMANCA — Winners of five straight, the Salamanca varsity boys lacrosse team doesn’t appear ready to slow down soon.
The Warriors rolled past visiting Lewiston-Porter on Friday, defeating the Lancers 18-1. Senior Xavier Taylor scored a season-high six goals while sophomore Amos Whitcomb and senior Keelan Seneca had three goals each in the win.
Reese Redeye-Desposito added two goals for the Warriors while Tre Turner, Nate Kettle, Hunter Cotter-Brown and Zariah Armstrong had one each.
Salamanca jumped on Lew-Port early, with three goals in the first two minutes and shut out the Lancers in the first half.
“We ended the Akron game (April 16, an 18-12 win) pretty strongly, putting in eight goals,” Salamanca co-head coach Larry Wheeler said, “and that was the message we gave the kids here, to come out like the team that ended the Akron game. It was nice because the scoring was kind of shared around by a bunch of players.”
Through Friday’s victory, Whitcomb and Seneca have 77 points each on the season. Whitcomb has 33 goals and 44 assists, while Seneca has 35 goals and 42 assists. The duo’s scoring gives them the top two spots in total points in Section 6, according to wnyathletics.com.
“We have No. 1 and No. 2 in the section for overall points scorers,” Wheeler said. “It’s looking pretty good. If we can keep everybody healthy and keep everybody academically eligible we’ll be alright.”
But on Friday, it was Taylor who erupted with his biggest game of the season.
“I think he’s becoming a team player,” Wheeler noted. “He draws a lot of double teams so it makes (other) kids open and we were able to capitalized on that.”
Salamanca (9-1) closes out the regular season with games at Wilson on Wednesday, hosting Newfane on Thursday and then, a week later, visiting Niagara Wheatfield on May 16. The Warriors have clinched the Class D division with a perfect 7-0 before the Wilson game.
What would the Salamanca coaches like to see before the playoffs start?
“Just more pairs playing, we need to see more off ball movement and once we get to see that, then we’ll know we’re ready,” Wheeler said.
