All of the area’s girls lacrosse teams had enjoyed strong starts and hoped to remain in that form as temperatures warmed up a bit and the snow finally disappeared.
Jamesville-DeWitt made it three wins in a row last Tuesday night, going to Auburn’s new Field Turf at Holland Stadium and using a fast start to each half as the foundation of an 11-6 victory over the Maroons.
It took less than five minutes for the Red Rams to bolt out to a 4-0 lead, and more than 10 minutes before Auburn got on the board. Fighting back, the Maroons got within one, 5-4, late in the half.
But J-D converted just before halftime and then added three more goals early in the second half to make it 9-4, ultimately too much for Auburn to overcome as Katie Lutz, with four goals, led the Rams’ push.
Lindsay MacLachlan had two goals and two assists, with Ana Dieroff also scoring twice. Emily Bobrek got one goal and one assist and Riley LaTray had two assists. Ali Durkin and Chloe Loewenguth had the other goals.
A far tougher test loomed for J-D Thursday against undefeated Fulton, and it fell behind early, only to make a quick recovery, take over early in the second half and hang on late to beat the Red Raiders 11-10.
Unable to win any early draws, the Rams fell behind 4-1. But after a timeout, it scored three times in less than 90 seconds, and Loewenguth’s goal in the last minute of the first half created a 5-4 lead at the break.
It went back and forth early in the second half until one of Fulton’s top players, Jordan Coulon, went out with an injury. Exploiting her absence, J-D broke a 6-6 tie with consecutive goals by MacLachlan, Loewenguth, Dieroff and Riley Burns.
Even with that, Fulton fought back, closing within 10-8 before MacLachlan converted with 4:29 left. That was needed, since back-to-back goals by Hailey Carroll and McKenna Chesbro again cut the margin to one.
But the Rams were able to gain possession and run out the clock, having seen MacLachlan and Dieroff both score three times, with Burns and Loewenguth getting two goals apiece. Keara Patterson paced Fulton with three goals and three assists.
J-D then defeated Syracuse 18-2 on Friday, a lopsided victory against coach Dennis Kennedy, who returned to that program after leading the Red Rams to the sectional title last spring.
Fulton had just handled East Syracuse Minoa 15-4 earlier in the week, the Spartans falling behind 10-1 by halftime as Carroll torched them for seven goals and two assists.
When the Spartans did convert something, Bella Talarico had a pair of goals, with single tallies going to Julianna Barton and Emma Biel. Combined, goalies Cara Miller and Anna James had 10 saves.
The ESM slump continued in Thursday’s 16-6 defeat to Auburn, who had an unstoppable duo in Abbie Izzo and Natalie Calandra-Ryan as Izzo amassed six goals and three assists, with Calandra-Ryan adding five goals.
By contrast, the Spartans were mostly quiet except for Rileigh White, who earned four of her team’s six goals. The others went to Talarico and Barton as Biel got two assists and Taylor Filmer a single assist.
Christian Brothers Academy, who hammered Tully in its April 6 opener, would net 12 goals in the first half of last Monday’s game against LaFayette and go on to defeat the Lancers 18-5.
Grace Hulslander (five goals, one assist) and Olivia Penoyer (four goals, one assist) led the charge, as did Claire Jeschke, who got three goals and three assists.
Gracie Britton also scored three times as Tate Kohlbrenner and Gia Anthony both earned one goal and one assist. Amanda Winn had the other goal as Anna Ziemba and Mary Reith picked up assists.
In a rare Sunday game, CBA met up with Long Island powerhouse Mount Sinai, its first big test of the season, and got humbled a bit in a 13-7 defeat, unable to catch up after the Mustangs built a 7-3 first-half advantage. Jeschke still finished with three goals, while Kohlbrenner had two assists. Penoyer and Hulslander had one goal apiece.
