Senior night at Alibrandi Stadium featured two of the top three ranked girls lacrosse teams in the state as Christian Brothers Academy greeted Skaneateles in Wednesday’s regular-season finale.
In actuality, though, the Brothers didn’t show up until midway through the first half – and when it did, it smothered the Lakers with a 15-1 outburst on its way to a 17-6 victory.
The prolonged festivities for eight CBA seniors – Taylor Gait, Courtney Henderson, Caroline Webster, Sophie Racciatti, Meg Hannan, Michelle Wiese, Kara Dell’uomo and Ellie Kelley – preceded the latest showdown between the two traditional powers.
CBA beat the Lakers in last May’s Section III final at Liverpool. Then the Brothers prevailed again, 9-7, at Skaneateles on April 7, dominating the flow of play and leading by a comfortable margin until a late, futile Laker surge.
Here, Sknaeateles was ready to play, as evidenced by Emma Ford and Nicole Beatson hitting on back-to-back goals 19 seconds apart to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Frustrated, CBA got called for four yellow cards in the first half, so it would go through most of the game with just 11 players on the field. Skaneateles only took partial advantage, though, as Casey VanSlyke and Beatson added goals and expanded the Lakers’ margin to 4-1.
Gradually, the Brothers began to settle in – and the result was total domination in every phase of the game.
Marisa Romeo started to win the draws on a regular basis. That led to long possessions, and strong passing, especially from Wiese and Racciatti (who had three assists apiece), helped CBA charge to a 7-5 halftime lead.
And it didn’t stop there, as the Brothers got nine straight goals to open the second half, often on charges to the net and shots that no defense could stop. Romeo led with five goals, while Poplawski and Webster each scored four times. Hannan, Rachel Perla and Alyssa Pitonzo added one goal apiece.
The defense was superb, too, blanking Skaneateles for more than 26 minutes of game time. Wiese, Webster and Poplawski joined Perla, Kelley and Olivia Pitonzo in putting intense pressure on any Laker player with the ball, leading to turnovers. Henderson helped out, too, earning eight saves.
