The fact that the Marcellus and Jordan-Elbridge girls lacrosse teams were eliminated in Saturday’s opening round of the Section III Class C playoffs was difficult for fans of both teams to take.

However, those feelings were tempered by the immense pride shared in the fact that, across the country and across the divisions, local stars were busy shaping national-championship chases.

As to the actual playoff games, Marcellus, the no. 8 seed, lost a 14-13 decision to no. 9 seed Cazenovia, the same side it lost to in a regular-season meeting five days earlier.

Now, as then, Marcellus paid for a poor start, falling behind 8-4 by the time they reached the half. A long chase followed, as several times the Mustangs would pull closer, only to have the Lakers get away again.

The Mustangs still had a chance when, with 1:29 left, Grace Nolan hit on her fourth goal to make it 13-11, but Cazenovia won the ensuing face-off and worked the clock down until Kayla Dorrance hit on a goal with 40.7 seconds to play.

That proved the game-winner as, battling to the end, Marcellus got last-second tallies from Molly Caldwell and Emily Hennigan before the clock ran out.

Audrey Cerrone, Lexy Bird and Molly McGuane each scored twice to help Nolan, while goalie Renee Poullott picked up 12 saves. Caroline Franz paced Cazenovia with five goals and one assist.

Later that afternoon, J-E, the no. 10 seed in Class C, battled no. 7 seed LaFayette, and the two sides went to overtime before the Eagles fell to the Lancers 10-8.

All game long, the two sides, who split their pair of regular-season meetings, traded the momentum. J-E roared to a 4-1 lead in the first half, but after a time-out LaFayette stormed back with four straight goals before a late Eagles tally pulled them even again, 5-5, at the break.

Through a tense second half, neither side could get away, but the Lancers were in front, 8-7, as J-E got several chances to pull even.

With less than four minutes left, Kelsey Youmell, who already had three goals, bounced a shot off the left post. J-E atoned when, with 45 seconds to play in regulation, Amanda Brown flicked one past LaFayette goalie Shannon Knapp, her fourth goal, to tie it 8-8.

So they went to a pair of three-minute OT periods. Kelsey Soderburg’s shot off the post proved an omen as the Lancers saw Cassley Jackowski, who finished with four goals and three assists, score once and assist on Nina Schaefer’s tally to make the difference.

Even with those disappointments, though, Marcellus and J-E fans – not to mention fans of Westhill and West Genesee – had a lot of reason to be happy on this Saturday.

At the Carrier Dome, Syracuse’s dramatic 16-15, come-from-behind win over North Carolina in the NCAA quarterfinals featured another solid effort from Sarah Holden, a senior stalwart for the Orange, who had one goal (giving her 31 for the season) and all kinds of hustle plays.

Former J-E goalie Kelsey Richardson saw time in the net, too, in the game’s latter stages, battling a Tar Heel offense that featured former Westhill star Laura Zimmerman, whose six goals were not enough for UNC. Zimmerman finished this season with 44 goals and 21 assists.

Now SU will get to face no. 1 seed Florida in Friday’s national semifinals at Stony Brook University on Long Island – which means an up-close look at freshman sensation Nora Barry, holder of most of the Marcellus scoring records.

All Barry has done with the Gators is rack up 39 goals, won 47 draw controls and pick up a team-best 48 ground balls. Barry’s three goals helped Florida rout Penn State 15-2 in its NCAA quarterfinal.

And West Genesee has its prints everywhere, including Onondaga Community College, where Morgan Corso had the tying and winning goals in the Lazers’ 6-5 win over Monroe CC to win the NJCAA title on May 12 in Rochester. Leea Sinay (Marcellus), Chelsea Maitland, Lilly Patrick (both from J-E) and Katherine O’Hara (Bishop Ludden) also helped OCC win it all.

WG’s Kelly Fucillo played in goal and Ludden’s Katherine Dussing starred on defense for Le Moyne, which made it to the NCAA Division II semifinals before falling to C.W. Post, while another former Wildcat, Maria DiFato, played for Cortland State, who saw its season end in the NCAA Division III semifinals Saturday with a 7-5 defeat to Trinity.