Perhaps the middle point of the regular season is a proper crossroads, at least as far as the West Genesee girls lacrosse team is concerned.

Coming off back-to-back defeats, and facing the defending Section III Class A champions on Saturday afternoon at Mike Messere Field, the Wildcats put together an inspired all-around effort to defeat Christian Brothers Academy 9-5.

After starting with five consecutive wins, WG had lost last Monday to Cicero-North Syracuse 7-4 and then dropped an 8-7 overtime decision to Baldwinsville on home turf two nights later.

Now CBA arrived, sporting a potent, experienced attack, and when Grace Hulslander took the opening draw and went on to score just 41 seconds into the game, the Wildcats looked to be in trouble again.

What turned it around was a determined WG defense that, led by Madison Smith, Grace Walker, Emma Parry and Meredith Barrett, played a close-up, physical style that disrupted CBA’s rhythm and shut them out for a stretch of more than 20 minutes. They were helped by goalie Madison Fox, who recorded seven saves overall.

This gave the Wildcats what it needed – namely, possession time to establish a patient tempo of its own. Goals by Mackenzie Meager and Halen Saroney put WG ahead for good.

Meager, helped by Emily Stratton, started to dominate in the draw circle, too, leading to six consecutive goals. Sam Detor assisted on three of them, and after Anna Ziemba broke CBA’s drought, Mackenzie Winn answered with a goal just 6.1 seconds before halftime.

Up 7-2 at the break, WG slowed things down further in the second half, but long possessions did not lead to any goals, and that strategy threatened to backfire when the Brothers closed within two, 7-5, with more than seven minutes to play.

One more time, though, the Wildcats’ defense made a stand, and Winn assisted on two clinching goals – one by Saroney, the other by Stratton. That pair joined Matisyn Schaut in earning two goals apiece, with Juila Williams also finding the net, with Phoebe Nelson and Elise Mancabelli earning assists.

As it streaked to a 5-0 start, WG had, to some degree, got away with less-than-stellar performance, relying as much on grit than on talent to pull through in close wins over some of its oppositin.

But that did not work in last Monday’s game at Bragman Stadium, where the Wildcats’ win streak was halted by C-NS.

Again, the teams had to deal with frigid conditions, but WG didn’t initially have a problem with it. With two goals from Schaut and another by Nelson, the Wildcats took three different leads in the first half.

Each time, though, C-NS answered, so it stood at 3-3 going into the second half, where for more than 22 minutes WG got shut out, contained by a fierce Northstars defense until Emily Stratton’s goal late in regulation.

C-NS’s back line of Allison Bartlett, Delaney Stahrr, Jessica Foley, Sarah Klein and the rest of the back line made big stops as Kaitlyn Lippert accumulated eight saves overall. Meanwhile, four straight goals gave the Northstars a lead it would not relinquish.  Megan Tryniski earned a three-goal hat trick as Makena Scarlata had two goals and one assist.

Now WG hosted Baldwinsville, who was coming off an impressive win over Liverpool earlier in the week. And for a while, this mirrored the C-NS game, with the Wildcats falling behind and seeming out of it before making a spirited late-game comeback, only to see it spoiled.

With the score 1-1 in the first half thanks to Eliza MacCaull’s goal, Schaut converted twice, but that 3-1 lead didn’t last. Falling into a prolonged slump, WG saw B’ville charge in front, 4-3, by halftime, and then stretch its margin to 7-3 deep into the second half.

It wasn’t until Nelson converted a free-position goal that the Wildcats’ drought ended. Then Schaut returned to net her third goal, and Winn made it 7-6 before WG attacked once more and, with 59 seconds left, Winn struck again to tie it.

But while it seemed the Wildcats had all the momentum going into overtime, it was B’ville earning the draw and taking just 30 seconds to decide it as Katie Pascale netted the game-winner.

Detor, in defeat, earned three assists. Nelson added an assist as Pascale got two assists before her game-winner, with the B’ville trio of Maria Henwood, Peyton Fleming and Sara Goodwin each scoring twice.

The CBA was a prelude, for the Wildcats, to another tough week where it would go to Liverpool Tuesday and Fayetteville-Manlius on Thursday before hosting Jamesville-DeWitt on Saturday.