For a quartet of local girls lacrosse teams, just reaching the Section III playoffs was enough of a chore, and not all of them would get there.
Of them, it turned out that Jordan-Elbridge carried the most momentum, a late-season surge capped by beating the combined Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes entry 11-8 last Wednesday to improve its mark to 8-8.
They played to a 5-5 first-half draw, but in the second half the Eagles gradually took over, doubling Ludden/Grimes’ output and getting great work in the net from Morgan Cooney, who finished with 11 saves.
Emily Bates led J-E with four goals. Alexis Malvaso found the net three times as Kelsey Soderburg earned two goals. Gabby Thorpe and Maria Kanatous gained the other goals, with Amanda Brown adding an assist. Erannan Shattuck led Ludden/Grimes with four goals as Nicole Granteed, Liz Tully, Teresa Shattuck and Jenny Vazquez got one goal apiece.
J-E was also helped along by last Monday’s 12-8 victory over Onondaga that featured a brilliant second-half performance.
Trailing 4-1 at the break, the Eagles adjusted its attack and took off, outscoring the Tigers 11-4 the rest of the way as Kelsey Youmell led the comeback with four goals and three assists.
Brown and Bates both had two goals and one assist, with Kanatous, Malvaso and Kali Kimak each scoring once.
Ludden/Grimes fell last Monday to Tully 20-12, unable to rally after the Black Knights roared to a 14-4 first-half edge. Granteed, Teresa Shattuck and Gemma O’Kane each managed three-goal hat tricks, while Seanna Laneve scored twice. Liz Tully added one goal and one assist.
Marcellus would make it, but not before stumbling in last Monday’s game at Cazenovia, unable to overcome a slow start in an 11-7 loss to the Mustangs.
Trying to avenge a 5-4 defeat to Cazenovia back on April 2, Marcellus instead got overwhelmed in the first half, the Lakers streaking to an 8-2 lead as Kayla Dorrance, with six assists, fed it to Caroline Franz (four goals) and Colleen Dougherty (three goals), among others.
Despite a stronger second half, Marcellus could not fully recover. Molly McGuane and Maura Gosson were the only Mustangs to score twice, while Molly Caldwell, Alex Burrows and Audrey Cerrone earned the other goals.
This gave the Mustangs some urgency to beat Westhill Wednesday night – which it did, playing a near-perfect first half in taking out the Warriors 17-8.
Doing whatever it wanted against an overwhelmed Westhill defense, Marcellus roared to a 12-4 halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way.
Grace Nolan and Emily Hennigan both finished with four goals, while Nolan added three assists. Lexy Bird found the net three times, with Molly McGuane adding two goals and two assists and Grace Hunt also finding the net twice. Alex Burrows and Audrey Cerrone got single goals.
Renee Poullott turned away 14 of the 22 shots she faced. Just three Westhill players scored as Brenna Rainone had four goals, Emily Mizer added three goals and Maggie Tripodi got a goal and three assists.
Westhill put up a good fight against state Class C no. 5-ranked Skaneateles last Monday night, but still lost a 14-11 decision to the Lakers.
The two sides were tied, 7-7, at halftime. Rainone had a heroic effort, with six goals and two assists, while Nicole Easterly (two goals) and Tripodi (one goal, two assists) offered the help. Mizer and Shelby Stack also scored.
However, The Lakers got away in the latter stages, overcoming Gretchen Krzykowski’s 10 saves behind the work of Carly Davis, who had six goals, and Nicole Beatson, who scored four times.
