It only figured that the Skaneateles and Marcellus girls lacrosse teams would get together for a crucial battle on the last Friday night of the regular season.
With the Lakers at no. 3 and the Mustangs at no. 5 in the latest state Class D rankings, their latest chapter in this long rivalry at Hyatt Stadium would serve as a measurement of where they stood with the Section III playoffs looming.
And at least on this night, Skaneateles towered over Marcellus, showing no weaknesses anywhere while building a 17-2 advantage at one point on the way to defeating the Mustangs 17-6.
On her senior night, Duke University-bound Olivia Navaroli set the tone, dominating the draws and giving the Lakers all kinds of extra possession time. Gradually, that wore the Marcellus defense down.
Skaneateles had seven unanswered goals during the first half, and even when the Mustangs did convert, the Lakers quickly answered, Navaroli and Gabby Welch both hitting on goals in the last minute of the half to extend the advantage to 11-2.
Things kept working for the Lakers in the second half, too. Navaroli worked her total to two goals and five assists, while Maggie Newton scored five times. Grace Dower and Riley Brogan both had four goals and two assists.
Only in the final minutes did Marcellus break out of the long Skaneateles spell, Sarah Hutchings notching four of the Mustangs’ six goals as Maisie Moses had the other two. Anna Vetsch and Casey Conklin got assists.
Before all this, Westhill, who was no. 4 in the state Class D rankings after beating Marcellus 10-8 on May 2, suffered a setback at home last Monday night as it fell 11-7 to Christian Brothers Academy.
For the entire game, the Warriors found itself chasing the Brothers, in large part because it had difficulty getting first-half draws, allowing CBA to control the ball and patiently build a 6-1 advantage.
Trying to fight back late, Westhill got two goals apiece from Gianna Zerrillo and Caroline Miller, with Rebecca Gilhooley earning a goal and three assists. Kendra MacCaull and Reilly Geer also found the net.
CBA held on, though, as three different players – Bella Roberson, Gracie Britton and Riley Taylor – earned three goals apiece, passes often coming from Tatumn Kohlbrenner, who earned five assists.
On Wednesday, Skaneateles faced Homer, and for a half it was close, but the Lakers outscored the Trojans 13-3 in the second half to roll to a 23-11 victory.
Dower, Navaroli and Brogan each scored five goals, Dower adding five assists as Navaroli and Brogan both got two assists. Elizabeth Wamp scored twice.
Rebounding from the CBA loss, Westhill flattened LaFayette 17-3 on Thursday, with Gilhooley amassing seven goals and three assists. Miller had three goals and five assists as Zerrillo scored four times. Grace Dwywr, Julia Lasher and Ellie Masterpole had one goal apiece.
Then Westhill claimed a tough 13-11 decision over General Brown on Saturday afternoon, improving its overall record to 13-2, the only blemishes coming to CBA and to Skaneateles in a 6-5 decision on April 2.
Jordan-Elbridge took a 13-5 defeat to Chittenango last Monday as Chelsea Curtis, who ended up with four goals, helped the Eagles only trail 5-3 at halftime before the Bears got away. Gabby Smart had the other goal as Rhonee Shea Pal (five goals, two assists) and Julia Graham (four goals, one assist) led Chittenango.
Then J-E played CBA on Thursday and lost 21-8 to the Brothers, the Eagles getting six goals from Curtis as Hannah Godfrey and Margo Miller also found the net. For the Brothers, Britton had five goals and two assists, with Taylor getting four goals and one assist.
