By far, the biggest development in local high school girls lacrosse is Christian Brothers Academy moving up to Class A, which will profoundly effect the Section III playoffs on multiple fronts.
Not only do Class B schools like Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa not have to worry about the Brothers in late May, powers like West Genesee and Cicero-North Syracuse will have to deal with them.
And as evidenced by the 11-10 overtime defeat CBA took to West Genesee on April 18 at Alibrandi Stadium, it’s quite capable of knocking off the long-time powers, and that respect was confirmed when the Brothers received a no. 4 spot in the first state Class A rankings of the spring, right behind C-NS at no. 2 and WG at no. 3.
Of course, it still matters that CBA hold local bragging rights, which it confirmed last Tuesday by making the short trip to Jamesville-DeWitt (no. 21 in the state Class B rankings) and handling the Red Rams by a 17-9 margin.
These same sides had met April 2 at CBA, a 15-3 romp that the Brothers could not quite match on J-D’s home field, but still controlled from start to finish, steadily building a 9-4 halftime lead and never letting the Rams make a sustained run to keep it close.
Emily Ehle, pouring in five goals and adding an assist, led CBA’s attack. Katie Anderson scored three times, with Sam McKenna and Alexandria Fess getting two goals apiece. Single tallies went to Rachel Ziemba, Rachel Vercillo, Grace Hulslander and Lilly Hunt, with Ziemba adding two assists. Adriana Fess joined Hunt, Hulslander and McKenna with single assists.
J-D did play better the second time around, as Caroline Kopp and Carly Stone each scored twice. Lizzie O’Brien added a goal and two assists as Meghan Byrnes, Ali Durkin, Bess Murad and Katie Lutz also found the net. Alyssa Phillips, Meg Hair and Riley Burns joined Murad and Lutz in the assist column as goalies Maddie Behan and Carolyn Kolceski combined for 10 saves.
Going their separate ways, both teams would win on Thursday night, CBA routing Oswego 21-5 and J-D fighting its way past the combined Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes squad by a 9-6 margin.
During a close, low-scoring first-half, Ludden-Grimes dictated the tempo, but could not take full advantage of it, still trailing 3-1 at halftime before the Rams’ attack started to make inroads during a more active second half.
Kopp scored twice, with Durkin, Murad, Julia Kelner, Jessica Wipper and Riley Burns adding single goals and all but Burns contributing an assist, too. On Ludden-Grimes’ side, Teresa Shattuck and Jennifer Vazquez accounted for all of the production, with three goals apiece, while Kellie Byrne added an assist.
Meanwhile, CBA was having no trouble with Oswego, leading 13-2 by halftime and eventually seeing 10 different players score goals, led by Ehle and Hannah Werner, who had three goals apiece. Vercillo, Ziemba, Maddie Cook, Olivia Penoyer and Amanda Fess each found the net twice. McKenna, Anderson and Hunt got single goals.
Prior to playing J-D, Ludden-Grimes routed Cortland 17-6 last Monday night, ending matters early by racing out to an 11-2 halftime lead and again getting big numbers from Shattuck, who poured in eight goals and added five assists for a 13-point night.
When the Purple Tigers tried to stop Shattuck, Vazquez answered, scoring six times and adding an assist. Byrne added a pair of goals as Molly McInerney had a goal and two assists. Emma Driscoll and Molly McInerney got one assist apiece.
J-D went from that game to a 15-10 victory over Auburn on Saturday afternoon, the Red Rams roaring in the first half and seizing a 12-5 advantage before the Maroons, led by Lacey Netti and Celina Rescott (three goals each), along with Maggie Ryan (one goal, four assists), tried to rally.
Hanging on, J-D saw Wipper crank it up with a career-best five goals. Stone had three goals and two assists, with Kelner adding two goals and two assists. Burns earned a goal and two assists as Durkin, Byrnes, Kopp and O’Brien also found the net.
