A change in the enrollment standards meant that the Jamesville-DeWitt girls lacrosse team joined East Syracuse-Minoa in the Section III Class B bracket after several seasons in Class C.
And the Red Rams took full advantage, earning the no. 3 seed and, in Tuesday’s opening round, putting together a 10-6 victory over no. 6 seed Fulton. As that went on, the no. 5 seed Spartans lost 21-8 to no. 4 seed Carthage.
J-D’s late-season charge did not translate into immediate success against Fulton. The Red Raiders slowed the game down, and the Rams’ attack did not respond immediately to that reality, so the hosts only carried a 3-2 lead into halftime.
A trio of attackers helped J-D get away in the late going, though. Taylor Bierwagen and Lauren Beville both posted three goals and two assists, while Taylor Fallon earned two goals and four assists as J-D as Natalie Antosh and Lauren Swan also scored.
ESM, meanwhile, met a Carthage also moved up from Class C, where it won the sectional title a season ago. Key people have departed from that Comet squad, but it still had enough to subdue the Spartans.
Trailing 10-4 at halftime, ESM could not keep Carthage from hitting double digits again in the second half, Katie Cook undergoing a torrent of shots as she managed to make 17 saves.
For its part, the Spartans saw Marlee Vlassis and Nikki DeVona each get three goals and one assist, while Alayna Davis and Alex McEachron also scored. Carthage star Kailah Kempney proved her worth, though, with seven goals and five assists.
The Spartans’ season ended with a 12-5 mark, but J-D (13-3) advanced to meet no. 2 seed Oswego in Thursday’s semifinal at Henninger’s Sunnycrest Field, the winner to get Carthage or Watertown in the final at Liverpool next Tuesday.
