Jordan-Elbridge’s boys lacrosse team had its most successful stretch of the season, winning four times in six days to nail down a Section III Class C playoff berth – and by the time the week was done, the girls Eagles also had a signature win in the books.
It all started for the boys Eagles with last Monday night’s game against Bishop Ludden, where a hot start led to a 15-2 romp by the boys Eagles over the Gaelic Knights.
Ludden never got settled as J-E, in the first quarter, roared out to a 10-0 lead. Given that, it could afford to ease up the rest of the night, only extending the margin to 12-0 by halftime and using most of its bench during a second-half running clock.
Gale Thorpe scored five times, adding a pair of assists. Alex Town had three goals, while Matt Somes had two goals and two assists.
Zach Wagner and Logan Schwarting also scored twice, with Aurie Schwarting notching a goal and two assists. Sam Robles contributed an assist. For Ludden, Cameron Bennett earned one goal and assisted on the other, by Mark Shattuck.
Less than 24 hours later, the Eagles won again, climbing to the .500 mark (5-5) as it went to Clinton and held off the Warriors 11-9.
They played on even terms throughout a 6-6 first half, but J-E outscored Clinton 3-1 in the third quarter to move in front and stayed there, led again by Thorpe, who finished with four goals and one assist.
Aurie Schwarting had two goals and two assists, while Sam Robles also found the net twice. Wagner, Somes and Logan Schwarting had the other goals, with Noland Michaels earning 10 saves in the net. Gavin Gleasman carried Clinton’s attack as he got six goals and added an assist.
When the Eagles throttled Manlius-Pebble Hill 16-4 on Thursday night, it jumped out to a 7-1 first-quarter edge and had the margin to double digits by the time they reached the third quarter.
Thorpe outscored the opposition, with five goals and two assists. Aurie Schwarting scored four times, with Wagner and Robles also earning three-goal hat tricks. Austin Clifford had the other goal.
At the end of this remarkable week, J-E turned back Tully, 12-10, for that playoff-clinching seventh win, which allows the Eagles to relax a bit, even as it still faced four more games in a seven-day stretch starting on Tuesday against LaFayette, and continuing with rematches against Tully and Ludden, plus a game with Onondaga.
Just as the J-E boys were beating Tully, the girls Eagles were recording its most impressive victory of the season, stunning state Class C no. 15-ranked Onondaga 6-5.
This was the very same Tigers team J-E had lost to 15-7 earlier in the week despite four goals from Kelsey Youmell and two goals from Gabby Thorpe.
Remembering that it couldn’t play at the fast tempo that OCS wanted, the Eagles slowed things down and relied on superb defense to turn back the Tigers, Morgan Conroy recording 11 saves and the back line holding OCS’s top scorer, Kori Holbrook (who had three goals and four assists in that first meeting), without a point.
A balanced attack helped J-E work its way to a 5-2 halftime lead. Kelsey Soderburg had two goals, with Youmell, Alexis Fietta, Kali Kimak and Emily Somes also finding the net. Thorpe, Fietta and Marissa Malvaso each had one assist.
Still, it got nervous at the end as OCS, led by Rachel Akshar and Katie Gantley (two goals each), moved back within one, requiring the Eagles to make key stops in the late going to hang on and improve its mark to 3-10.
That was actually J-E’s second straight win, as the Eagles, following the first game with OCS, turned around a day later and beat Chittenango 12-4, mostly due to Youmell, who had four goals and two assists, and Thorpe, who contributed three goals and four assists.
Kimak and Antonia Malvaso both had one goal and one assist as Soderburg, Marissa Malvaso and Emily Kuehnle scored one goal apiece. Conroy stopped 10 of the 14 shots she faced.
