One long and timely run by Emma Lamison helped push the Liverpool field hockey team into the state Class A final four.
Lamison’s daring sprint through the Fairport defense set up the decisive goal in the second half, springing the Warriors to a 2-1 victory over the Red Raiders in Saturday’s state quarterfinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
The two sides had mostly gone through a quiet second half, deadlocked at 1-1 and Liverpool had rarely enjoyed any real scoring chances against a determined Fairport defense.
Then, with 11:06 left, Lamison earned possession of the ball just inside her part of midfield. The junior proceeded to parade around at least four Fairport defenders, drawing out the goalie, Sara Cook.
When Lamison maintained possession of the ball around Cook, she passed it to Danielle Abold, who flicked the ball into the unoccupied net.
Liverpool had one built-in advantage, aside from familiarity with the CNS turf. It had rested for a week since its Section III Class A final win over Rome Free Academy. Fairport, meanwhile, had gone to overtime to eliminate defending state champion Willliamsville North the day before.
Still, the Warriors could not convert on two early penalty corners, and on the Red Raiders’ third try 6:56 into the game, Tylyn Martin pounced on the rebound of Colleen Dowling’s hard shot and put it into the net.
Having rarely trailed all year, Liverpool called a time-out after Martin’s goal, and did settle down on both ends. By the mid-point of the half, the Warriors were attacking hard again, and at the 15:50 mark Emily Burns slammed it in to the net off a perfect feed from Mary Fadden to tie it.
For the rest of the half, the defenses took over, and Liverpool saw a goal disallowed because it was shot outside the circle. Fueled by that, it attacked hard, but got resisted every time, so it was 1-1 at the break.
Fairport made the first sustained push in the second half, but were unable to get a close-up shot. The Warriors’ defenders, led by Jennifer Ryan, Audra Adams and Catie Voegler, flicked away chances before goalie Mary Reed could worry about them.
Gradually, Fairport picked up pressure by the middle part of the half, even if the shot volume was low. With 13:28 left, Liverpool coach Kim Dominick called a time-out, trying to reverse that momentum.
Not even three minutes later, Lamison offered that reversal, and for the rest of the game Liverpool held on with more superb defense.
In Saturday’s state semifinal at 9:30 a.m., also at Bragman Stadium, Liverpool takes on Section I champion Mamaroneck. The winner will advance to Sunday’s 10 a.m. final against Greene (section IV) or Sachem East (Section XI).
