A good break in the schedule allowed the Fayetteville-Manlius girls lacrosse team to stay relatively active during a week where some of its foes could do nothing but wait for the snow to melt.
By far, the week’s key event was Friday’s trip to Cicero-North Syracuse, a make-up of the April 5 game at Bragman Stadium abandoned at halftime due to a fierce snowstorm.
This time around, the Hornets were in front most of the way, but had to hold off a fierce late comeback by the Northstars to pull out an 8-7 win.
Since the original postponement, the Northstars had built a 4-0 record, and had just knocked off Liverpool 9-8 the night before — but it was playing for the third time in as many days.
F-M was engaged in its third game in four days — but the previous two contests had been romps of Rome Free Academy and Oswego, neither of which taxed the team that much.
By playing solid defense, the Hornets were able to work through a slow start, taking the lead for good midway through the first half. When Lindsey Crawford slipped in a pair of goals late in the half (including one as time expired), F-M flew into the break with a 5-2 lead.
For a majority of the second half, F-M tried to run and wear CNS down, and Crawford’s third goal, with 8:42 left, put the Hornets up 8-4.
But the Northstars refused to go away. Ashley Waldron answered Crawford’s tally just 10 seconds later, and Lis Zuern also netted a goal to cut the margin to 8-6. When Rachel Geruso scored off a turnover with 1:43 to play, the lead was just one.
F-M tried to run out the clock, but CNS got it back and set itself up for a final shot — but Waldron could not get it off in time, and the Hornets had the win.
Mary Elizabeth Klepper matched Crawford’s three-goal hat trick, as Shannon McHugh got the other two goals. Zuern led the Northstars with three goals as F-M’s netminder, Lauren Webster, finished with nine saves.
Prior to this, F-M had rolled through the week’s activity. They cleared out the snow at RFA Stadium in time to play last Tuesday night, and F-M went out and routed the Black Knights, 18-2, pitching a first-half shutout as it built an 8-0 lead before the break and kept on scoring.
Eight different players –Crawford, Allie Primo, Klepper, Emily Pierson, McHugh, Morgan Axenfeld, Jenny Devaney and Samantha Martin — put up two goals apiece. Pierson and Klepper each had two assists.
Single goals were credited to Caroline Helmer and Kate Bonsted, as Hannah Luber finished with two assists.
F-M’s game with Oswego on Thursday was a near-repeat of the RFA affair, with the Hornets building a 13-0 halftime lead and bashing the Buccaneers 17-3.
Bonsted had four goals, with Klepper adding three goals and two assists. Caputo, Ali O’Neil and Jackie Kelleher chimed in with two goals apiece as McHugh, Crawford, Primo and Caroline Helmer earned single tallies. Pierson and McHugh each finished with two assists.
After the battle with CNS, the Hornets stood at 5-2, with a tough test at Auburn looming on Tuesday night before a Thursday visit from Baldwinsville. The Hornets go to the Rochester area Saturday to face Brighton.
