West Genesee Lacrosse Facts

• All-Time Team Records
(1976-present under Coach Mike Messere: 558-34)
), ), ), 1979 (21-1), ), ), ), ), ), ), 1986 (18-1), ), ), ), ), ), ), 1993 (15-2), ), ), ), ), ), ), 2000 (21-2), ),)

• West Genesee Wildcats Section III Lacrosse Championships
1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003

• West Genesee Wildcats
New York State Championship Game Appearances
(11 state titles!!! No other team has won more!!)
1981 - West Genesee 11 Yorktown 7
1982- West Genesee 8 Yorktown 7
1983 - West Genesee 11 Yorktown 8
1984 - Yorktown 6 West Genesee 5
1985 - West Genesee 10 Garden City 3
1987 - West Genesee 13 Yorktown 1
1990 - West Genesee 10 Ward Melville 5
1991 - West Genesee 10 Lakeland 5
1994 - West Genesee 5 Ward Melville 2
1995 - West Genesee 4 Sachem 3
1996 - Mahopac 4 West Genesee 3
1997 - Ward Melville 8 West Genesee 7 (OT)
1998 - West Genesee 9 Ward Melville 8 (OT)
1999 - Ward Melville 13 West Genesee 12 (OT)
2002 - West Genesee 10 Northport 9

• West Genesee Playoff record

Championships - # played # won
League — 28—25
Section 3 — 25— 20
Sec. 3 vs 4 — 19 —19
State Semis — 18 — 15
State Final — 15 — 11

• Genny shares the state record for consecutive victories by going 91-0 during the 1981 through 1984 seasons!

• Former West Genesee players now coaching in college
• Division I
Syracuse - John Desko
Cornell - Jeff Tambroni
Vermont - Steve Beville
Mt. Saint Marys - Tom Gravante
Wagner - Chris Lukowski

• Division II
Lemoyne - Dan Sheehan
Green Mountain - Spike Falvey

• Division III
Clarkson - Bill Bergan
RPI - Tom Korrie
Geneseo - Jim Lyons
Cazenovia - Rob Kenna

West Genesee Lacrosse Traditions
West Genesee is a program steeped in tradition. Some traditions are long-standing, some more recent, some have been modified over the years, and still others are not spoken of, but held in the hearts of players.

• High Socks - This tradition dates back as far as anyone can recall. Genny is known nationwide in the lacrosse community as the "guys with the high socks". In 2002 , Inside lacrosse conducted a internet poll asking readers their preferred sock length. One of the choices was "West Genny" high socks.
• Parents banner - A team banner was purchased by the parents of the 1997 team. It is brought to each game and hung up as "good luck". Since it's origin, the banner has had the current "team slogan" embroidered on the bottom each year.
• Team Dinners - Another tradition with a fuzzy starting date. Estimates are back to the mid-late 80's. Before a "big" game, a family would volunteer to host a "pasta" dinner for the lacrosse team in their home. This would happen before one of the regular season games. In '99 Terry Pensabene volunteered to host the dinner when his son Joe was on the team, but had it at his Pensabenes Park West restaurant in Fairmount. Since that time, the team has met at least once during the regular season for a "pasta" dinner.
• "Ground Balls" shirts - Once again, it has not been determined when this originated. Each team is given tee-shirts to wear under their game jerseys. Some years the shirts have had just the year and "Ground Balls" on it, other times a saying, chosen by the team that year that symbolizes their personal mission statement. Rumor has it that the shirts have been nicknamed due to the on-field yelling of "ground balls ...ground balls' by the Loyola Dons team during an early Daniel hand tournament in Connecticut.
• "Snickers Practice" - A very long saturday practice where Coach Messere hands out Snickers candy bars at the break.
• Knitted Blanket - Originally knitted by Pat Tambroni when her son Jeff (and current Cornell head coach) was on the team. The blanket traveled to each game and was deemed "good luck". When Jeff graduated, the blanket (which had Jeff's name embroidered on it) was presented to the McCaull family. The McCaull's put their son's name on the blanket the next year and took it to each game. The blanket has been passed on from team to team over the years. The new "parents of the blanket", embroider their son's name on the blanket and at the end of the season...pass it on to the family who has had a son on the Varsity team the longest. In the event their is more than one family to choose, the blanket is passed to a family chosen by the one that currently has possession.
• "Head Art"- Reserved for teams that make it to the State Final and yet another tradition dating back to the early 80's. The team is encouraged to show their "artsy side" by giving one-another haircuts the night before just for that special day. The haircuts are not unveiled until the National Anthem.
• Coach Haircuts - Reserved for a team that actually wins the State Championship game. Each player takes their turn giving the coaches their "summer haircuts".
• "Running the Res" - For many, many years, "running the res" at Westcott reservoir was an integral part of the West genny lacrosse program. When a team occasionally did not perform particularly well in a game, the team bus would stop by the reservoir on the way home for some "extra work". The team from 1998 had the fortune of not stopping in Westvale the entire season and went on to defeat Ward melville in the State championship at Hofstra University. In 2002 on their return trip from winning the program's 11th state title, the team decided to stop in Westvale and run the "res". There was a surprise waiting for them at the top. Many former players got wind of the plan,arrived before the bus and were waiting at the top at 2:00AM to greet them.