With a chance to pull to the .500 mark, the Chittenango girls lacrosse team could not quite pull it off in last Tuesday night’s visit to Cortland, falling to the Purple Tigers 12-7.

A brief win streak halted as the Bears stayed right with Cortland in the first half, dictating the pace and situating itself in a 4-4 tie at the break.

However, the Purple Tigers, led by Katherine Hunsberger (five goals), got clear in the second half as Carly Cunningham, Molly Bramshreiber and Casey Marks each had two goals in support of Hunsberger.

Just three players scored for the Bears, and Jessica Antelmi did most of it, earning four goals. Kayla Haynes scored twice as Maggie Kendrick (coming off a two-goal, three-assist effort in a May 7 win over Fulton) added one goal and one assist. Emily Murray, in goal, had 10 saves.

Returning home Thursday night to face Mexico, the Bears cranked up its defense and used that as the anchor for an 8-3 victory over the Tigers.

Racing out to a 6-2 halftime advantage, Chittenango then slowed things down, making sure that Mexico did not put together any kind of sustained momentum.

In a rare display of perfect scoring balance, Barber, Antelmi, Kayla Haynes and Brittany McDonald each finished with two goals, with Barber adding two assists.

Kendrick posted two assists, giving her 21 for the season (tops among the Bears), with McDonald and Antelmi adding one assist apiece.

Now at 7-8, the Bears would host Jamesville-DeWitt on Monday, then go to New Hartford Friday to close out the regular season.