Though it had tested itself plenty through early-season scrimmages both inside and outside Central New York, the Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse team had only one game on its ledger prior to last week’s action.
But then the Brothers played three times in four days, winning them all, starting with a 21-1 rout at Central Square last Tuesday night. Having gone 10 days since beating Wantagh on April 2, CBA had a lot to work on, and got a chance following a 12-0 first half that decided matters.
Five different players earned hat tricks as Emily Ehle, Maddie Cook, Grace Huslander, Olivia Penoyer and Tessa Queri gained three goals apiece. Rachel Vercillo notched four assists to go with her pair of goals as Amanda Fess also scored twice.
Rachel Ziemba and Erica Mayette each got one goal and one assist as Lilly Hunt and Claire Jeschke picked up two assists apiece. Cathlene Harrigan and Meredith Strott also earned assists.
Then CBA would face East Syracuse Minoa on Thursday night and win by a 25-0 margin, earning 18 of those goals in the first half and getting even more players involved in the fun.
In all, 14 players found the net for the Brothers, with Ehle, Queri, Hunt and Amanda Fess leading the way as they all scored three times. Vercillo had two goals and three assists, while Sam McKenna and Jillian Henson also had two-goal outings. Cook had a goal and two assists as Alexandria Fess joined Jeschke, Huslander, Strott, Riley and Erica Mayette in the goal-scoring column.
Remarkably, CBA nearly matched that score line in a 25-1 romp over Mexico Friday night, a game where, again, the Brothers scored 18 times in the first half and, again, got most of its stars involved.
Penoyer, with five goals and two assists, set the pace. Cook scored four times, adding a pair of assists, while Amanda Fess earned three goals and one assist. Queri and Lilly Hunt both got a pair of goals as Ehle and Vercillo had matching totals of one goal and three assists. Jeschke had a goal and two assists as Huslander and Henson both managed one goal and one assist.
ESM had already pulled out a tight 9-7 decision over Mexico earlier in the week, and even that required the Spartans to overcome a 5-4 halftime deficit to break a two-game skid. Kate McGarrity, Olivia McEachron, Brigid McGinley and Bella Talarico each scored twice, with Kelly Thomas adding a goal. McGinley and Talarico picked up assists.
Away from all this, Jamesville-DeWitt won twice early in the week, but then saw its unbeaten run crash to a halt Saturday at Fulton, who proved that its own 5-0 start was far from a fluke as the Red Raiders defeated the Red Rams 15-9.
For the most part, it was J-D’s defense that took the fall, constantly burned as Fulton established its margin during a 10-3 first-half blitz. Keara Patterson, with six goals and three assists, led the Red Raiders, with Hailey Carroll (four goals, one assist) and Jordan Coulon (three goals, one assist) offering ample support.
Even though J-D played better in the second half, it couldn’t make up much ground. Riley Burns led the Red Rams with three goals and one assist, with Meg Hair and Katie Lutz each scoring twice. Lizzie O’Brien and Ali Durkin had the other goals as Alyssa Phillips added an assist and Meg Prosak, in goal, recorded 10 saves.
J-D handled Cortland 18-9 last Tuesday in a game where the Red Rams raced out to a 13-3 halftime lead before allowing the Purple Tigers, especially Shea Swartout (who finished with seven goals), to convert more with the outcome settled.
Jillian Risavi emerged for the Red Rams and poured in five goals, with O’Brien adding four goals and one assist. Burns converted three times as Lutz and Bess Murad had two goals apiece and Burns added a pair of assists. Phillips and Lindsay MacLachlan contributed single goals and Durkin earned an assist.
Having improved to 3-0, J-D went for four in a row Thursday at Chittenango and bashed the Bears 17-5, a steady effort where Burns again had three goals, this time adding a pair of assists as O’Brien and Phillips matched that three-goal output.
Lutz and Ana Dieroff both scored twice, with Julia Kelner getting a goal and two assists. Durkin and Risavi helped out with one goal and one assist apiece as Nikki O’Hara earned a goal, too.
Bishop Ludden- Bishop Grimes met Cazenovia Wednesday night at West Genesee High School’s Mike Messere Field, where it lost, 12-3, to those other Lakers. Emma Driscoll, Laura Patulski and Rhonee Shea Pal each had one goal, but Cazenovia mostly shut down Ludden-Grimes and saw Keara Dwyer and Chloe Willard each score four times, with Dwyer adding two assists and Willard a single assist.
On Saturday, though, Ludden-Grimes defeated Cortland 13-10, gaining an 8-5 edge by halftime and trading goals the rest of the way, overcoming a seven-goal effort by the Purple Tigers’ Shea Swartout.
For her part, Molly McInerney had five goals and one assist, while Patulski and Grace Lambrych had two goals apiece. Driscoll notched a goal and two assists as Shea Pal, Katy McInerney and Colleen Murphy also scored, Murphy adding an assist. Camille O’Kane, in goal, recorded eight saves.
