As reigning state Class A champions and atop the state rankings, the West Genesee girls lacrosse team is guaranteed to get every opponent’s best shot.
And when state no. 10-ranked Pittsford showed up in Camillus Wednesday night, it was no different, the Wildcats trailing for much of the night before a second-half surge led to an 8-7 victory over the Panthers.
This was WG’s second close call against a Section V opponent in less than a week, having fought past Canandaigua 10-8 just four days earlier, with an 11-4 road victory at Liverpool in between.
Right from the start, it was apparent that Pittsford possessed the speed and passing skills to make the Wildcats work hard in all facets of the game to keep up with them.
WG fell behind 2-0 thanks to goals by Panthers teammates Tori Wehner and Kelsie Schindler, as Schindler would go on to score three times.
Alia Hildebrandt finallly got the Wildcats on the board midway through the first half. Abi Cullinan answered for Pittsford a minute later, but after that, the Panthers did not score again for more than 21 minutes.
With the offense struggling, WG’s defense had to take over. Marissa Hudgins anchored the back line, and with help from Abby Connor, Courtney Shoults and Dina Cavallaro, they anticipated all of Pittsford’s attack tendencies and forced turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats struggled with getting shots past Panthers goalie Hayley Peets. Then, after Pittsford took a 4-3 lead on Wehrer’s second goal, Hannah Elmer answered seconds later, and Alia Hildebrandt’s goal with 14:22 left gave WG its first lead of the night.
Staying patient and winning most of the draws, the Wildcats appeared to clinch matters when Taylor Collins scored with 6:44 to play, followed by goals from Vicki Graveline and Grace Osterdale that made it 8-4 with less than two minutes left.
But WG would need those goals. Pittsford, in a frantic scramble, scored three times in the final 90 seconds to cut the margin to one, but the last of those goals came with four seconds left, too late to do anything with the ensuing draw before the horn.
The Wildcats’ second regular-season encounter with Liverpool in an 11-day span took place last Monday night at LHS Stadium, and like their first game April 4 in Camillus, it ended with WG on top by an 11-4 margin.
Back in that first game, the Wildcats shut out the Warriors in the first half. That didn’t happen here as WG, playing its fourth game in seven days, could not get the ball enough to control tempo, allowing Liverpool to hang around and only trail 5-3 at the break.
But the second half was another matter. WG won draws, settled into its attack and spread production around, eventually outscoring the Warriors 6-1 in those last 25 minutes.
Michaela Ciciarelli earned her first three-goal hat trick as a varsity player. Elmer scored twice, adding a pair of assists, while Hildebrandt and Collins matched that two-goal output. Graveline had three assists and Riley Donahue added two assists, with Osterdale and Cailyn Negus also scoring.
