All season long, the Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse team has sat atop the state Class A rankings. Now it will find out whether that exalted standing will translate into exaltation in the Carrier Dome and beyond.
For the Section III Class A playoffs, the Brothers have the top seed, while West Genesee has the no. 2 seed. Both have byes straight into Thursday’s semifinal at East Syracuse Minoa Stadium, where CBA awaits no. 4 seed Fayetteville-Manlius or no. 5 seed Baldwinsville.
Tuning up for the playoffs, CBA went to Homer last Monday night and unleashed a 12-0 first-half assault, but then eased back with the game well in hand as it went on to defeat the Trojans 14-2.
Rachel Vercillo, with two goals and three assists, paced the Brothers’ attack as Emily Ehle scored three times, adding an assist. Sam McKenna and Olivia Penoyer also had two-goal outings.
Claire Jeschke, Meredith Strott, Rachel Ziemba, Tessa Queri and Cathlene Harrigan each had one goal. Grace Hulslander contributed two assists as single assists went to Strott, Maddie Cook.
It wasn’t as lopsided in Wednesday’s regular-season finale against Honeoye Falls-Lima at Alibrandi Stadium, but on Senior Night CBA was not about to let the Cougars hang around as it rolled to a 21-6 victory.
Just to show how deep and balanced the Brothers’ attack remains, three different players – Ehle, Penoyer and Hulslander – each finished on two goals and two assists, with Vercillo getting three goals and one assist.
No one had more than four points – and yet it was 11-2 by halftime and a far bigger margin at game’s end. Queri scored twice and Ziemba contributed one goal and one assist as McKenna, Strott, Amanda Feess and Lilly Hunt got one goal apiece and Cook earned an assist.
Jamesville-DeWitt would finish the regular season taking on East Syracuse Minoa Wednesday night in a fund-raiser for the Carol M. Baldwin Foundation, supporting breast cancer research and treatment.
Given the cause, the game’s result was not as important – but the Red Rams (11-5) did win, 13-2, over the Spartans, pitching a first-half shutout as it gained an 8-0 advantage and watching goalie Maddie Behan stop seven of the nine shots she faced.
Offensively, Lizzie O’Brien, with four goals, set J-D’s pace. Katie Lutz and Sadye Bobbette both scored twice and earned an assist, with Ana Dieroff adding two goals. Riley Burns had a goal and two assists as Lindsay MacLachlan and Alyssa Phillips also found the net. Janee DeLuca earned both of ESM’s goals in the second half.
A night earlier, J-D had taken a tough 12-11 defeat to state Class C no. 15-ranked Marcellus, unable to finish off the Mustangs despite playing a superb first half where it raced out to a 9-5 advantage.
MacLachlan scored four times for the Rams, with Riley Burns getting two goals and four assists. Dieroff also scored twice as Meg Hair got a goal and two assists. O’Brien and Jillian Rasavi had the other goals as, for Marcellus, Grace Coon (four goals, one assist) and Maddie Conklin (two goals, three assists) led the comeback.
ESM didn’t make the sectional Class B tournament. Amid the eight-team field, J-D got the no. 3 seed and hosts no. 6 seed Auburn in the quarterfinals, with the winner going to the semifinals Thursday against Fulton or Whitesboro at Marcellus High School.
Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes also was playoff-eligible, despite last Wednesday’s 17-5 defeat to Tully. Molly McInerney had a three-goal hat trick, with Rhonee Shea Pal and Emma Driscoll earning the other goals and Katy McInerney getting a pair of assists.
Grace Lambrych added an assist and Camille O’Kane had 13 saves, but they couldn’t keep the Black Knights from expanding upon an 8-3 halftime lead as Erynn McNerney (five goals, two assists) and Tessa Doody (four goals, two assists) led Tully’s efforts.
Given the no. 10 seed for the sectional Class C tournament, Ludden-Grimes visited no. 7 seed Tully in the opening round on Saturday, where it lost, 12-6, to the Black Knights.
For a while, Ludden-Grimes kept it close, even leading for large portions of the first half before Gemma Guy’s goal at the 13:41 mark put Tully ahead for good. Still, it was just a two-goal game, 5-3, at halftime before the Black Knights wore the visitors down.
Driscoll and Molly McInerney still had two goals apiece, with singles goals going to Shea Pal and Sidney Dobbins. Lambrych and Molly McInerney each had one assist. Mackenzie Bolt paced Tully with four goals and one assist.
