As much as Liverpool’s girls lacrosse team had accomplished through the years, and as much as its alumni had done at the college level and beyond, it mostly lacked the sort of big win that could catapult them to the next level.
Such a win was finally attained Thursday night in the Section III Class A semifinal at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium, where the no. 3 seed Warriors, led by the trio of Andrea Flood, Mallorie O’Brien and Mary Fadden, knocked off no. 2 seed Baldwinsville 14-11.
The win advances Liverpool into Tuesday’s Class A title game, where it will try and topple top seed and defending champion West Genesee on the Wildcats’ home turf in Camillus. WG beat Fayetteville-Manlius 19-6 in the other semifinal.
Getting there required a reversal of recent unpleasant history against Baldwinsville. That included a marathon 2011 sectional semifinal that, due to weather delays, stretched out over two days and two overtimes before B’ville pulled it out. And it included two regular-season meetings in April, where the Warriors lost by scores of 17-12 and 11-6.
So when Maggie Monnat and Erika Wilcox hit on goals in the opening minutes of the semifinal to give B’ville a quick 2-0 lead, Liverpool fans could only wonder if the sad tale was repeating itself for a fourth time in 12 months.
Not here, though, as the Warriors promptly went on a 7-1 run that covered most of the first half and put them ahead for good.
Flood provided the spark, converting on each of Liverpool’s first four goals, and the Bees could not answer back because the Warriors were dominating in the draw circle, leading to long possessions and extra work for the defense.
B’ville went nearly 12 minutes without a goal as Kayla Szczesniak, Courtney Szczesniak, Emily Burns, Alexis Kline and the rest of Liverpool’s defense stayed aggressive and caused a series of turnovers, further cutting down on the Bees’ possession time.
Liverpool took an 8-4 lead into halftime. Whatever B’ville tried in the second half, it could not cut into that deficit as Fadden got two goals and two assists and O’Brien matched Flood’s four-goal output.
Up 12-7 after Morgan Kline scored with 11:17 to play, the Warriors still were not safe. The Bees finally put a run together. Claire and Maggie Monnat combined to score three times, and Sarah Klaben also converted, in between Fadden’s third tally.
When Claire Monnat scored her fourth goal with 4:04 left, Liverpool only led 13-11. But after a time-out, Liverpool regrouped, made a key defensive stop, and then worked down the clock until Lauren Mancini’s goal with 1:45 to play all but clinched a long-awaited date in the finals.
Liverpool earned its latest shot at B’ville by handling no. 6 seed Syracuse in last Tuesday’s opening round at LHS Stadium, beating the combined city entry by a score of 20-7.
Through a steady first half, Liverpool tore apart Syracuse’s defenses and steadily built a 12-4 lead. And it kept pulling further away, taking no chances against a post-season newcomer.
O’Brien, with five goals, led the way. Morgan Kline scored four times, while Flood and Brianna Centro each managed three-goal hat tricks. Mancini scored twice, as did Bridey Tracy, with Natalie Perkins getting the other goal and Fadden contributing a pair of assists.
As the girls Warriors were knocking out B’ville, the Liverpool boys lacrosse team, with the no. 2 seed in the Class A tournament, routed Auburn 17-1 in its quarterfinal at LHS Stadium.
Efficient and effective, Liverpool didn’t let the Maroons get on the board until the fourth quarter, long after the starters had departed. The Warriors led 6-0 after just one quarter and doubled that margin over the next two periods, not needing to expend a huge effort in doing so.
Matt Glowacki led with four goals and one assist. Logan Thomas and Scott Kershner each had three goals and one assist, while Nick Kline managed two goals and two assists. Peter Flood and Kyle DeAngelis both had one goal and one assist as Austin Hope settled into a supporting role, earning three assists.
