Each person playing in Monday’s Section III Class C girls lacrosse first-round playoff marathon between Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes and Cazenovia knew that, in just 24 hours’ time, one of them would face the daunting task of trying to upend defending champion and heavy favorite Skaneateles.
And none of those players cared one bit.
Going beyond regulation, and beyond the required pair of three-minute overtime periods, the no. 9 seed Gaelic Knights and no. 8 seed Lakers needed nearly four full extra periods to settle matters before Julia Catalano did so, her goal giving Ludden/Grimes an 8-7 victory in a game played at Cazenovia College’s Christakos Field.
Due to various scheduling issues, this opening-round sectional game was played two days after the rest of the round was completed.
Maybe that extra wait was required, given all the twists and turns this game took. Ludden/Grimes and Cazenovia played a game that had a full season’s worth of excitement into the 61-plus minutes they spent on the field, far surpassing the Gaelic Knights’ 11-6 loss to the Lakers back on April 24.
Right away, Teresa Shattuck established herself as the Gaelic Knight’s main offensive threat, hitting on her team’s first two goals. Despite that, Cazenovia moved out in front, paced by a pair of tallies from Audrey Burbidge,
Burbidge’s second goal late in the half, plus Grace Milmoe’s goal, pushed the Lakers to a 5-3 halftime lead, something that was far from comfortable.
Ludden/Grimes then made it far more uncomfortable by opening the second half on a 4-0 run, anchored by Shattuck, who added two more goals and assisted on tallies from Gemma O’Kane and Stephanie Brazell.
Trailing 7-5 with less than 10 minutes left, now it was the Lakers’ turn to rally, breaking a drought of 18-plus minutes with Milmoe’s second goal. Then, with 6:04 to play, Sarah Willard blasted a shot past Gaelic Knights goalie Meg Farrell to tie it, 7-7.
And it would stay that way for a long time. Both at the end of regulation, and through the pair of mandatory OT periods, the Lakers would get chances to get in front, only to have Farrell, who finished with 10 saves, turn them back.
At the same time, though, Cazenovia’s defense kept thwarting Ludden/Grimes, with Zantha Hourigan adding to her total of six saves and the back line making key stops, too.
Once the regular OT periods were done, it went to a sudden-victory format where the first goal wins, but even that didn’t work in the third OT, which came and went with the 7-7 deadlock intact.
Late in the fourth extra period, after yet another big stop from Farrell, the Gaelic Knights pushed into the Lakers’ end, Shattuck, already with four assists, found Catalano cutting to the net, passed it to her – and watched Catalano fire one past Hourigan to end it.
After all that, Ludden/Grimes’ “reward” was going to Skaneateles. Out of gas, and facing a well-rested, highly-skilled opponent, the Gaelic Knights lost, 16-4, to those other Lakers, falling behind 12-1 by halftime. Catalano, Seanna Laneve, Molly McNerny and Kellie Byrne had single goals.
That was part of a rough quarterfinal Tuesday for local girls lacrosse sides, as no. 5 seed Westhill saw its season end with a 12-7 defeat to no. 4 seed LaFayette and Jordan-Elbridge, the no. 11 seed, fell to no. 3 seed South Jefferson 17-8.
Trailing most of the way, the Warriors could never make the run it needed against the Lancers. Only Sophia Dower scored twice, while Lydia Gosson, Ryan Laible, Haleigh Farrell, Kelly Lippert and Liz McAnaney had one goal apiece. Skye Schumacher led LaFayette with four goals and one assist, with Cassidy Doster contributing three goals and two assists.
Up north in Adams, J-E’s fine season came to an end against a South Jefferson side fresh off its first-ever Frontier League title, unable to recover from a first half where the Spartans bolted out to a 12-3 lead.
Antonia Malvaso still had three goals and one assist, with Marissa Malvaso adding two goals and one assist. Miranda Malvaso put up a goal and two assists as Alexis Malvaso and Torey Kopp managed the other goals. Morgan Conroy made eight saves as South Jefferson’s top star, Morgan Alexander, had another big night, producing five goals and three assists.
