Do not let the margin of defeat that the Marcellus girls lacrosse team ultimately faced in last Monday’s game at state Class A no. 1-ranked Christian Brothers Academy dictate the way the game was played.
True, the Brothers prevailed, 14-6, but it didn’t felt comfortable until the latter stages of the game, when it put together an 8-1 run and wore down the Mustangs’ defenses.
Marcellus was still in a jovial mood thanks to breaking its eight-game skid against Skaneateles in an 8-7 overtime thriller on April 28, which had helped propel the Mustangs to no. 10 in the latest state Class C poll.
And at least in the early stages, Marcellus had intentions of shocking CBA, too, slowing down the game’s tempo and only trailing, 3-2, before a pair of turnovers led to back-to-back goals by Maddie Cook and Olivia Penoyer 32 seconds apart late in the first half.
Despite this, Marcellus was still within two, 6-4, deep into the second half before a turnover led to Sam McKenna’s goal with 15:24 left. Following that, the Brothers started to dominate draws and didn’t let up until it had a 14-5 lead in the waning minutes.
Still, Grace Coon and Abby Vetsch both produced a pair of goals, with Maddie Conklin getting a goal and two assists. Lily Powell also found the net as Katherine LoCastro added an assist. Annable finished with nine saves as Penoyer paced CBA with five goals and two assists, with McKenna and Emily Ehle each getting three goals and three assists.
Two days later, the state Class C no. 10-ranked Mustangs answered with an authoritative 20-5 romp over Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes, seeing nine different players find the net, led by Conklin and Abby Vetsch, who got four goals apiece as Conklin added two assists.
Close behind them, Coon scored three times, adding an assist. Powell, Anna Vetsch and Madison Green had two goals apiece, with Locastro and Colette Rigas each getting a goal and two assists. Olivia Bird added one goal and one assist as Molly McInerney had three of Ludden-Grimes’ five goals, with Emma Driscoll and Taj Huddleston earning the others.
Then, in Friday’s 23-9 romp over East Syracuse Minoa, the Mustangs netted 15 goals in the first half alone. Powell set a career mark with five goals, a number Coon matched as Conklin got four goals and two assists. Abby Vetsch had three goals and one assist, with Locastro, Rigas, Bird and Tekenzie Fey also finding the net.
While Marcellus was taking its punishment at CBA, Westhill, who was 7-1 going into May, started the month with an easy 21-5 win at Onondaga where it had a 12-2 lead by halftime and played the second half with a running clock.
Erin McMullen and Haileigh Farrell each finished with five goals, matching the Tigers by themselves. Abby Stack had three goals and one assist as Shelby Stack, Kendra MacCaull and Caroline Miller each scored twice and Miller tacked on three assists. Rebecca Gilhooley and Natalie Jetter netted single goals as Katelyn Karleski got two assists and Maura McAnaney also had an assist.
It proved far different on Tuesday, when the Warriors had to hang on to beat Homer 7-6. With the Trojans dictating the (slow) pace throughout the night, Westhill had to adjust, staying patient while waiting for scoring chances.
Enough of them emerged for a victory, but it wasn’t easy. Farrell, McMullen and Abby Stack each scored twice, while Shelby Stack added a goal. Jetter got an assist. Hayes made six saves to overcome three goals by Homer’s Olivia Porter as Trojans goalie Katie Lawrence had nine saves.
The grind caught up to Westhill Thursday night, at Fayetteville-Manlius, where it never got into the proceedings and lost, 17-6, to the Hornets.
Only Sam VanBuren scored twice as McMullen had a goal and assist. Jetter, Abby Stack and Shelby Stack took turns getting the other goals, but F-M’s attack proved too potent and diverse as Allison Macrae, Jamison Seabury, Sydney DeGirolamo and Amanda Cramer earned three goals apiece, with Mary Trop and Jane Cote each scoring twice.
Jordan-Elbridge, who lost an overtime decision to Westhill on April 29, rebounded last Tuesday with a 10-6 win over Tully, which not only improved the Eagles to 7-5, but also clinched a Section III Class C playoff berth, a goal for the team from the outset.
Antonia Malvaso, Alexis Braun and Marissa Malvaso each scored twice to lead a well-balanced J-E attack. Miranda Malvaso and Alexis Switzer each had one goal and one assist as Emily Kuenhle and Allison Jennings found the net, too. Anna Bozeat maintained that lead by recording 11 saves.
J-E then won again Thursday, 17-7, over Oswego, seeing 11 different players register a goal by game’s end as Switzer, with five assists, set the tone in burying the Buccaneers.
Only Antonia Malvaso earned three goals as Kuehnle, Jennings, Miranda Malvaso and Marissa Malvaso got two goals apiece. Switzer joined Alexis Fietta, who had two assists, plus Braun, Annalea O’Brien and Katie Goodrich in the one-goal column. Anna Bozeat finished with seven saves.
Before falling to Marcellus, Ludden-Grimes make quite a second-half comeback in last Monday’s game against Clinton to pull out an 11-10 decision. Clinton was up 6-3 at halftime, but wore down in the face of Ludden-Grimes’ pressure as Driscoll found the net five times and tacking on two assists.
Grace Lambrych and Molly McInerney helped out, earning two goals apiece. Rhonee Shea Pal and Chenze Diglio both earned single goals as Katy McIenrney added an assist. Each of Camille O’Kane’s eight saves proved important.
On Friday, Ludden-Grimes defeated Onondaga 12-6, not requiring any comeback, but instead seeing Shea Pal and Molly McInerney each put in three goals as Driscoll and Sidney Dobbins got two goals apiece. Katy McInerney had a goal and two assists, with Huddleston adding one goal and one assist.
