What unfolded Thursday night at Chittenango High School during the Section III Class A girls lacrosse semifinals was guaranteed to be cruel for someone.
Cicero-North Syracuse, no. 4 in the state rankings, was facing Christian Brothers Academy, no. 3 in that same state poll, and one of them would see their season end.
And as it turned out, it was the Northstars seeing yet another quest for a long-elusive sectional title fall short, its potent attack turning quiet down the stretch of a 12-8 defeat to the Brothers.
These teams had not met in the regular season, but carried similar traits. Both were deep, athletic teams that wanted to pick up the pace and run at each other, utilizing plenty of skill along the way.
Perhaps in seasons past, this would work in C-NS’s favor, but CBA, who had not done as well against large-school opponents in seasons past, had worked hard on its physical conditioning, and it would pay off in a big way here.
Neither team had a lead of more than one goal for much of the first half, and swapped the lead with various two-goal runs. The lavish defensive attention CBA gave to Hanna Haven and Meghan Duffy gave opportunity to others, especially Christie Hahn, who scored twice in the opening half.
When CBA’s Sam McKenna, off a great pass from Grace Huslander, scored with 2.2 seconds left in the half, the Northstars trailed, 7-5, at the break – only to get goals from Samantha Tortora and Brenna Duffy early in the second half to tie it again, 7-7.
Now it was CBA’s turn for a run, Rachel Ziemba and Emily Ehle both scoring less than two minutes apart. This, as it turned out, would give the Brothers the lead for good.
After Hahn netted her third goal with 13:36 to play, C-NS was shut out the rest of the way. The Brothers’ defense did a superb job all night, holding Hanna Haven to one goal and Meghan Duffy to one assist, while goalie Annie O’Brien made four saves.
Meredith Strott, Claire Jeschke and Olivia Penoyer hit late goals to clinch it, as Penoyer finished with a team-high three goals. McKenna had three assists to go with her pair of tallies as Emily Ehle scored twice.
CBA got to this point by shutting out Liverpool, the no. 6 seed, 14-0 in last Tuesday’s opening round at Alibrandi Stadium.
Try as it could, the Warriors could not break through against a CBA defense that turned everything back and saw its pair of goalies, Annie O’Brien and Sloane Nicoletti-Watson, stop all 10 shots they faced.
A steady CBA attack produced a 7-0 halftime lead that doubled by game’s end. Five players – Penoyer, Strott, Rachel Vercillo, Amanda Fess and Hannah Werner – had two goals apiece, with Ziemba getting a goal and three assists. Ehle had a goal and two assists.
CBA would then end C-NS’s season and earn a shot at West Genesee in Tuesday’s sectional final at the Carrier Dome, while the Northstars would ponder the departures of a small, but important senior class that includes Haven, Hahn, goalie Bri Stahrr, attacker Stephanie Roberts and defender Megan Caveny.
Even with that, though, the return of Meghan Duffy, Brenna Duffy, Bryar Cummings, Lexxi Knoblock, Mary Kate Bonanni and Mallory Eymer, plus Julia Alberici, Olivia Africa, Jenna Lippert, Jessica Meneilly, Megan Tryniski and Olivia Massena in 2016 gives C-NS plenty of reason to think that it can contend again and, maybe, get to the top at last.
