In some ways, the West Genesee girls lacrosse team’s trip to Oswego Tuesday night offered one of the season’s supreme challenges.
Here were the Wildcats, who had just played three games in as many days in New Jersey and Maryland on April 20-22, returning to the field less than 48 hours after returning home, with the long bus rides to go with a long road trip.
And it wasn’t against a patsy, either. The Buccaneers were the defending Section III Class B champions, a state final four participant in 2011, and it had roared out to a 7-0 start this spring. Also, Oswego was playing at home amid cold, windy and wet conditions.
Perhaps steeled by the trip, WG shook off all of these negative considerations, dominated the first half and rolled to a 17-9 victory over the Bucs.
In some ways, the first half was as impressive as any 25 minutes the Wildcats had played all spring. With every excuse lined up, WG instead attacked hard, steadily built an 11-4 lead, and allowed itself a chance to play the rest of the game at a more reasonable pace.
Emily Tripodi was the chief spark, piling up a career-best nine assists. Those passes went to, among others, Liz LaComb, who led with four goals, and Nicole Bello, who scored three times.
Shannon Hawley, Kara Datellas, Kerri Taylor and Riley Donahue each scored twice, with Mary Maestri and Vicki Graveline also scoring. Alia Hildebrandt added an assist. In defeat, Mikayla Place (four goals), Kaitlyn Armstrong (three goals) and Taylor Giglio (two goals) accounted for all of Oswego’s production.
At the tail end of the road trip that had included an 11-10 loss to Mendon (N.J.) and a 14-6 win over John Carroll (Md.), the Wildcats finished it well, beating St. Paul School for Girls 13-10.
St. Paul, located in Brooklandville in suburban Baltimore, stayed on even terms with WG most of the way. A fast-paced first half allowed the Wildcats to move in front 9-6, and dictated the pace in the latter stages, even though it couldn’t pull away.
Hawley, with five goals, and Tripodi, with five assists to go with her pair of tallies, led the attack. Geremia finished with three goals as LaComb, Hildebrandt and Anna Elmer each scored once. Kara Datellas added an assist.
Following the win over Oswego, WG returned home Friday night and ripped its way past Rome Free Academy 21-0, with 14 of those goals coming in the first half and everyone in the roster getting a chance to see game action.
Marissa Rose led with three goals and one assist. LaComb, Geremia, Mary Maestri and Michaela Ciciarelli each scored twice. Olivia Wolfram had a goal and two assists as Hawley, Elmer, Hildebrandt, Bello, Shelby Milne, Lindsay Ponto, Marissa Hudgins, Dana Anderson and Madison Huegel took turns getting their own goals.
This only adds to the build-up for Friday’s trip to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium to face Baldwinsville, who has gone 8-1 since losing to WG 11-6 back on March 31. A Tuesday game against Auburn precedes the rematch with the Bees.
