One side had romped through everyone so far in 2017. The other had lost twice, by narrow margins.
Yet it was those blemishes that had toughened the Marcellus girls lacrosse team in a manner Jordan-Elbridge had not faced yet, and that may have factored in last Saturday’s showdown, when the Mustangs outscored the Eagles 20-14.
On both ends, the defenses would face a mighty struggle, but it was Marcellus steadily working its way to an 11-7 halftime lead, and then answering with scoring runs every time J-E tried to close the gap.
Combined, the duo of Grace Coon and Maddie Conklin nearly matched J-E as Coon got seven goals and one assist and Conklin earned six goals and one assist. Enough support came from Lily Powell (three goals) and Abby Vetsch (two goals, one assist) as Lily Locastro and Colette Rigas each had one goal and one assist.
The Eagles got four goals from Marissa Malvaso, Miranda Malvaso and Allison Jennings, with Marissa adding two assists. Antonia Malvaso got two goals and two assists as Alexis Fietta gained two assists. Single assists went to Alexis Braun and Katie Goodrich. Marcellus goalie Rebecca Nutting had nine saves, two more than J-E counterpart Allie Derby.
Before all this, J-E had rolled through everyone. The Eagles were 2-0 going into last Monday’s game at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, finding no trouble from the Red Devils as it put together a 20-0 shutout.
Everyone on the roster got into the scoring column, with Marissa Malvaso (two goals, three assists) and Antonia Malvaso (three goals, one assist) leading the way as Goodrich, Braun, Miranda Malvaso and Alexandria Smart got two goals apiece.
Jennings had a goal and two assists, with Molly Derby and Renee Eggleston both picking up one goal and one assist. Fietta picked up two assists as goals also went to Amelia Younis, Cassie Schrader, Savannah Prior, Michaela Mills and Abby Skotinski.
Two nights later, at Chittenango, the Eagles shut out the Bears 14-0, getting 11 of those goals in the first half and, with the running clock, managing to maintain the shutout through a sound defense anchored by goalie Allie Derby, who recorded four saves.
Jennings, with three goals and one assist, paced a well-balanced J-E attack. Goodrich, Marissa Malvaso and Miranda Malvaso each got two goals and one assist, with Braun also scoring twice. Fietta again had two assists, joining Antonia Malvaso and Renee Eggleston in the one-goal column.
Just before beating J-E, Marcellus, who nearly upended Cicero-North Syracuse on April 1, got a chance last Thursday to defeat another large-school power, only to get dragged into three overtimes and take an 11-10 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius.
The entire game was a back-and-forth affair. Every run was answered in kind, and the two sides were even, 6-6, at halftime, staying that way through a tense second half as the Mustangs and Hornets each scored four times.
At 10-10, it went to OT, but one period was not enough to settle it, nor was a second extra period. It wasn’t until the third OT that F-M sophomore Gemma Adonizio, who already had a three-goal hat trick, beat Nutting for the game-winner. Prior to that, Nutting had made eight saves.
Coon, who surpassed 100 career points in that C-NS game, led the Mustangs with four goals and one assist, while Vetsch, Rigas and Conklin earned two goals apiece.
Back on Tuesday, Marcellus earned its first win of the season by romping past Onondaga 24-1, scoring 15 goals in the first half alone and continuing to add to that total despite a running clock for the entire second half. Anna Vetsch scored six times, plus an assist, with Maddie Conklin getting three goals and five assists.
Katherine LoCastro notched four goals as Coon got three goals and two assists. Vetsch and Sarah Hutchings both scored twice, with Madison Green getting a goal and two assists. Rigas and Katy Wangsness both had one goal and one assist as Lily Locastro earned her first varsity goal. Taylor Reich and Lily Powell picked up assists.
Westhill moved to 2-0 last Tuesday by pulling away from LaFayette 19-10. The pace was intense from the outset and the Lancers, led by Mya DeJoseph (five goals) and Riley LaCava (three goals, one assist), stayed within range for a while, only trailing 10-6 at halftime.
But the Warriors gradually drew clear in the second half, led by Caroline Miller’s four goals and four assists. Erin McMullen also scored four times, tacking on an assist as Sam VanBuren and Haleigh Farrell got three goals apiece. Reilly Geer had two goals as Kendra MacCaull got a goal and two assists. Abby Stack and Rebecca Gilhooley also scored.
On Saturday, Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes returned to action and edged East Syracuse Minoa 14-13. Having moved out in front, 8-6, by halftime, Ludden-Grimes held on behind five goals from Molly McInerney and three goals and three assists from Emma Driscoll.
Grace Lambrych and Mary Fallon each scored twice, with Emily Monroe and Rhonee Shea Pal netting single goals. Peyton Hall recorded eight saves as, for ESM, Brigid McGinley and Olivia McEachron each had five goals, with McEachron adding two assists.
