With a remarkable rally, the Jordan-Elbridge girls lacrosse team put a sudden end to a league win streak Skaneateles had been building for a long time — six years, to be exact.
The Eagles became the first team in 59 OHSL Liberty division games to topple the Lakers, doing so in a 13-12 decision.
J-E came into the game with a modest 2-2 mark. For once, though, that fit right in with Skaneateles, the reigning Section III Class C champs that had made the state finals each of the last four years.
Skaneateles came in with a 2-3 mark, though losses to Cazenovia and Westhill (both in the OHSL Liberty) were marked as non-league contests, and so the 59-game streak wasn’t affected.
This one was a league game, though, and for a while it looked like so many others before. Skaneateles led by as much as 9-1 at one point, but the tide would turn fast.
Suddenly, the Eagles got hot late in the first half, and cut the margin to 9-7 before they hit the break. As the pace slowed in the cold, wet and windy conditions, J-E caught up, then watched as Ella Thorpe put in what proved to be the game-winner with 4:30 left.
Both Thorpe and Emily Dillon finished with three goals, while Katie Dungey and Carrie Farrrugia scored two goals apiece. Alie Donahue and Kelsey Armani scored, too, with Grace Dungey and Hanne Bailey earning single assists. Goalie Kelsey Richardson had nine saves as Lindsay Angelillo (five goals, one assist) led the Skaneateles effort.
The Eagles made it back-to-back wins Wednesday, at LaFayette, again coming from behind to produce a 10-6 victory over the Lancers.
Through a cold, wet first half, LaFayette controlled the tempo and produced enough to edge in front, 5-4, as Cassley Jackowski led the way with four goals.
J-E adjusted its defense, though, and contained Jackowski the rest of the way, Richardson earning 11 saves and giving the Eagles lots of time to pull in front.
Eight different players scored in a balanced attack where only Farrugia and Chelsea Maitland found the net twice. Armani, Dillon and Amanda Wheeler each had one goal and one assist, with Dungey, Thorpe and Ashley Wheeler also converting. Mallory Snyder added an assist.
This led to Saturday’s game at Bishop Ludden, where the Eagles had little trouble taking the Gaelic Knights apart in an 18-6 decision.
Six different J-E players had multiple goals as it roared out to an 11-3 halftime edge and maintained its pace despite the 85-degree conditions.
Dillon, with four goals and one assist, set the pace for the Eagles (5-2) as Farrugia and Wheeler landed three goals apiece. Dungey and Thorpe matched each other with two goals and two assists, while Maitland found the net twice. Bailey had a goal and three assists, with Snyder landing a goal. Donahue and Armani had assists.
Ludden saw six different players — Morgan Kanavy, Tess Ritchie, Alex Szelewski, Emily Wheeler, Eve Seiter and Kat O’Hara — get the six goals, with Kanavy adding two assists.
Ludden had already gone through a rough week, starting last Tuesday with a 12-8 defeat to Tully where much of the margin was built in a 6-3 first half.
Trying to rally, the Gaelic Knights saw Morgan Kanavy score three times and Kate O’Hara score twice, both of them fed by Tess Ritchie, who had four assists to go with her single goal. Julie Davis and Lauren Roy also had goals. Trina Dufresne had 12 saves.
Following that, the Gaelic Knights took a 17-1 loss to Marcellus on Thursday night as Katie O’Hara’s second-half goal, assisted by Tess Ritchie, prevented a shutout. Trina Dufresne had 10 saves.
Marcellus 12, Cazenovia 10
The Mustangs proved a lot last Monday night, stepping well out of its comfort zone by going to Cazenovia and beating the state-ranked Lakers 12-10.
Kate Gosson led Marcellus with five goals, while Nora Barry scored three times. Meghan Connors and Erin Walter each scored twice, with Denise Johns earning a pair of assists and Stephanie O’Rourke getting one assist.
Marcellus 17, Chittenango 3
The Mustangs blew out Chittenango 17-3 Wednesday.
Barry and Connors both had three-goal hat tricks, with Barry adding two assists. Gosson and Kelly Welch each scored twice, while Walter, O’Rourke and Ellen Brooks took turns earning single goals.
Marcellus 17, Ludden 1
Back home Thursday night to face Bishop Ludden, the Mustangs continued to roll, bashing the Gaelic Knights 17-1.
Johns and Connors each had four assists to go with their pair of goals, anchoring an attack where Barry and Gosson got three-goal hat tricks. O’Rourke, Walter and Leea Sinay had their own two-goal outings. Molly Decker added one goal and one assist.
WG 21, Henninger/Nottingham 21-1
Lauren Michaels, with four goals, led the pack. Mara Guy set a new career mark with five points that included two goals and three assists, while Mel Murphy, Kara Datellas and Sarah Brown also scored twice.
Katey Hart and Karlyn Tupper both finished with a goal and three assists as Maria DiFato, Morgan Corso and Lindsay Vona each picked up one goal and one assist. Laura Lucchesi, Kellyn Savage, Bridget Alberts and Jeri Burke got single goals.
WG 21, Corcoran 1
WG produced 11 unanswered goals in the first half and kept up the torrid pace the rest of the way, even with a running clock during a one-sided affair.
Tupper and Bre Hudgins each led the way with three goals, with DiFato picking up two goals and three assists. Corso, Murphy and Guy each scored twice, with Michaels, Burke, Hart, Sara Fisher, Holly Barnello and Joanna Sheldon also converting. Savage had two assists.
Westhill 10, CBA 9
The Warriors’ early hot streak nearly came to a halt during last Thursday’s game against Christian Brothers Academy, but enough was done in the end to edge past the Brothers 10-9.
Westhill got most of its offense in the first half. Led by seniors Sam Marshall (four goals, one assist) and Mackenzie Rainone (three goals, one assist), the Warriors did enough there to push itself to a 7-4 lead at the break.
The Warriors finished on top behind an experienced defense and goalie Morgan Roach, who finished with 10 saves. Emily Haggerty, Brenna Rainone and Claire Purcell each had single goals in support of Marshall and Mackenzie Rainone.
WG 18, Cortland 6
The Warriors crushed the Purple Tigers 18-6 Thursday. Ignoring the fierce 85-degree heat, Westhill showed its good conditioning, seizing a 9-2 edge by halftime and never letting Cortland into the argument.
Marshall and Mackenzie Rainone stayed hot, each of them pouring in five goals to nearly match Cortland by themselves. Brenna Rainone returned to form, too, with three goals and four assists, while Haggerty gained two goals and two assists. Margaret Lee and Clare Purcell each had one goal and one assist, with Molly Kiggins also scoring.
