Almost as soon as the West Genesee girls lacrosse team assumed the top spot in the state Class A rankings, it nearly got toppled in its the first round of its own Wildcats Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Friday night – then did meet defeat a day later.
Carthage, the defending Section III Class C champions, played a superb first half in Friday’s opening round and led for a long while before the Wildcats’ depth – and its defense – turned things around and produced a 12-10 victory over the Comets.
Having played WG the year before, Carthage knew what to expect and, in University of Connecticut-bound senior Katie Ferris, had, arguably, the best player in Central New York on its roster.
So it was far from surprising that the Wildcats, after scoring first on Bre Hudgins’ free-position shot 1:57 into the game, would see that lead vanish quickly. Two goals by Ferris followed a Kailah Kempney tally, and Carthage led 3-1.
Even when the Wildcats rallied to pull in front 5-4, the Comets tied it in less than a minute. Then, as the first half wound down, Katherine DeRonda and Kempney landed goals, the latter coming 4.8 seconds before the break. With goalie Elllyse Richardson contributing eight saves, Carthage had a 7-5 halftime lead.
It was still 8-6 early in the second half when Ferris went to the sidelines for several minutes. That gave WG a chance to regroup on both ends.
From a defensive standpoint, Kara Datellas, Dana Anderson, Liz Powell and Brittany Didio stepped up their play, blocking shots and forcing turnovers. Goalie Rachel Watkins, who played the second half after replacing Sarah Elmer, made several clutch stops.
In all, the Wildcats kept the Comets off the board for more than 19 minutes, which proved more than enough time for WG to move out in front.
Emily Tripodi, off a turnover, tied the game 8-8 with 12:02 left, forcing a Carthage time-out as Ferris returned to action. But in a span of 38 seconds, Shannon Hawley and Karlyn Tupper earned goals, pushing the Wildcats ahed for good.
Eventually, the margin got to 12-8 thanks to two more goals from Tupper and Tripodi, giving WG the cushion to withstand Ferris hitting her fourth and fifth goals in the waning minutes.
After all this, the Wildcats had to face another tough foe in the finals – Good Counsel, a visiting team from Olney, Md. (halfway beteween Baltimore and Washington, D.C.), who had toppled Canandaigua 12-9 in the other part of the opening round.
Again, the Wildcats would go to the wire – but this time, it would not finish on top, as the visiting Falcons (no. 7 in the national laxpower.com rankings) took the first-place trophy in a 14-13 thriller.
WG had a 7-6 lead going into halftime, but could not hold on to that advantage as Good Counsel broke a 13-13 tie in the last seconds of regulation.
The Wildcats lost despite Hudgins getting four goals. Katey Hart and Lauren Michaels each scored twice, with Corso, Hawley, Tripodi, Mel Murphy and Bridget Alberts earning single goals.
Prior to that, the Wildcats warmed up last Tuesday with a 20-3 win over Central Square, playing well in all phases of the game as it bolted to a 12-1 halftime lead and didn’t let up.
Morgan Corso had four goals and two assists, with Alberts gaining a three-goal hat trick. Erica Geremia had two goals and two assists as Tupper and Hart had matching totals of two goals and one assist.
Behind them, Tripodi gained a goal and three assists, with Datellas earning a goal and two assists. Hudgins, Hawley, Julie Dussing, Mary Ferranti and Natalie Anderson made it 12 different players with a goal as Murphy joined Dussing and Ferranti in the assist column.
The Wildcats will play three more times this week, against Auburn, Rome Free Academy and Corcoran.