Look closely enough, and you’ll find the East Syracuse-Minoa girls lacrosse team rounding into peak form at just the right time.
The Spartans earned its biggest victory of the season on Thursday, at Jamesville-DeWitt, when it used strong defense to subdue the 12-1 Red Rams and win by a score of 10-7.
What made the victory even more impressive was the way the game started — uneven one moment, interrupted the next.
J-D teammates Meredith Howe and Kristal Buck both scored before the game was two minutes old, the Rams threatening to bury ESM early.
Quickly, the Spartans shook it off, as Gina Campese and Kristen Darcy put in goals that tied it, 2-2. But the two sides had played just six minutes when lightning nearby forced a stoppage, as both teams retreated to their respective buses.
The game would resume, though — and when it did, ESM edged out in front, allowing just one goal the rest of the first half and taking a 4-3 lead to the break.
As the second half wore on, the Spartans got more confident and attacked with greater frequency, knowing that its defense could hold off whatever J-D tried.
In fact, the Rams took more shots — but Carissa Ficarro was sensational in the net, finishing with 16 saves, twice the number of J-D counterpart Tara Prosak.
On the offensive side, a trio of Spartans took over, as Tricia Rodgers, Alecia Shaffer and Jennifer Lewis each finished with two goals and one assist. Laura Matthews and Emily Chayka added depth, joining Campese and Darcy in the one-goal column.
As for the Rams, Howe and Melissa Jaworski would each score twice, as Buck, Lauren Sala and Lauren Cobb earned single tallies. Amy LeRoux added an assist.
Earlier in the week, the Spartans stepped out of league play and ripped General Brown in a 14-1 decision.
Lewis finished with four goals and one assist. Rodgers and Matthews each had three-goal hat tricks, while Chayka found the net twice. Shaffer and Madeline Chopskie had single goals, as Chopskie and Darcy each gained a pair of assists.
ESM continued this domination a day later, against Fulton, breezing to a 16-5 victory over the Red Raiders.
Allowing just one goal in the first half, the Spartans never trailed. Lewis had her second consecutive four-goal outing, as Campese stepped up for three goals and one assist.
Rodgers backed up her pair of goals with three assists, as Darcy and Matthews also had two-goal outings. Choposkie had one goal and two assists. Shaffer and Chayka scored, too.
As that was going on, J-D tuned up for the Spartans by crushing those other Spartans, from New Hartford, in an 18-3 romp.
Cobb came up with five goals and two assists as the Rams rushed to a 13-1 halftime lead. Buck, Emily Johnson and Kate Byrnes each had three goals, as Howe had a goal and four assists and Sala backed up her single tally with three assists. Jaworski had one goal and two assists. Meghan Feeley had the other J-D goal.
