Somewhere after May 6, when the Liverpool girls lacrosse team suffered yet another defeat to West Genesee to see its mark slip to 3-10, the Warriors were forgotten as anyone that could make any noise in this 2008 season.
Yet when the Section III Class A semifinals roll around Thursday at Marcellus High School, the Warriors will be there — not as spectators, but as players trying to blunt the top-seeded Wildcats’ 43-game win streak.
Liverpool got there by virtue of beating no. 4 seed Baldwinsville 12-8 in a Class A quarterfinal Tuesday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium that really wasn’t as close as the final margin would show.
Due to schedule changes, B’ville decided to have its Senior Night here, instead of at the end of the regular season. Whether it distracted the Bees or not, the truth was that Liverpool was primed to play from the moment the game started.
Aside from a 3-3 tie less than 10 minutes into the game, Liverpool led the entire way, as all of the positive aspects of its game built through a five-game win streak to close out the regular season burst through here.
Instead of having so much of the offense center around Jennifer VanderMeulen, many different Warrior players gave the Bees fits. Jordan Miller and Marybeth Madia both matched VanderMeulen with three goals and one assist, while Alyssa Renk scored twice and Kathleen Conese added a goal and Alison Flood earned two assists.
When the Bees attacked, Liverpool’s lively mix of defenders stepped up. Veterans Carolyn Barry and Katie Wood joined newcomers Marlee Heintz and Laura Sammon in forcing B’ville into turnovers and rushed shots.
And even when the Bees got open looks, Mikey Meagher shut the door, as the junior goalie enjoyed, arguably, her best game of the season, finishing with 17 saves, most of them point-blank stops.
Meagher, and her teammates, would have to be twice as good to top West Genesee, who had lost exactly one game (the 2006 Class A final to Fayetteville-Manlius) in the last three seasons.
