To some degree, girls lacrosse programs are always chasing West Genesee in Central New York, given the Wildcats’ long ledger of Section III and state championships.
Catching the Wildcats takes some fine work, and that’s exactly what Cicero-North Syracuse did on a frigid Monday evening at Bragman Stadium, playing near-perfect defense in the second half to prevail 7-4.
WG had started the season 5-0, but had not yet faced a Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division opponent, and C-NS had some momentum following an April 12 home win over Liverpool.
Patience and poised was needed for C-NS as the Wildcats took three different leads in the first half, only to have the Northstars answer every time, making it 3-3 going to the break.
Much of the second half saw C-NS smother WG’s attack. 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. Brenna Duffy added one goal and one assist as Jessica Meneilly also converted.
Friday’s action saw C-NS test itself against reigning state Class A champion Pittsford, and for the most part getting shut down during a 9-3 defeat to the Panthers.
Pittsford steadily worked its way to a 7-2 halftime advantage. The Northstars contained things from there, but could not catch up as Duffy had two of the team’s three goals. Tryniski also scored as Meneilly got two assists and Fran Tortora also earned an assist.