At least in the waning stages of the regular season, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls lacrosse teams were wed together by the common goal of trying to knock off Baldwinsville.
And it was the Northstars that proved successful, going to Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium last Friday night and prevailing 13-10 in a non-league contest, avenging a 10-9 defeat to the Bees just three weeks earlier.
Though it was a non-league game, C-NS (10-4) knew a win here could boost the team’s confidence right before the start of the Section III playoffs, especially since the two sides could meet again there.
A deep, well-balanced attack keyed everything for the Northstars, who led 7-5 at halftime and adjusted well to the natural-grass setting at Pelcher-Arcaro after so many turf contests.
C-NS held on with no single player even getting three goals. But five of them – Sarah Bowles, Hanna Haven, Meghan Duffy, Tiffany Ryan and Stephanie Liberati – scored twice as Bryar Cummings, Miriam Ghabarou and Courtney Kenny notched singles goals.
B’ville, by contrast, had just five players score, though it included four goals from Amari Pollard and three goals from Sarah Klaben.
It was the Warriors taking the first shot at the Bees last Tuesday night at LHS Stadium in their lone regular-season encounter, and while it was close throughout, Liverpool never gained the lead and went cold at the end of a 9-6 defeat.
Right from the start, Liverpool intended to dictate the tempo by possessing the ball for long stretches and causing frustration on the Bees’ part. However, it had to be done from behind after B’ville grabbed an early 3-1 lead.
Late in the first half, Alexis Kline, Kasi Cabrey and Mallorie O’Brien each landed goals, and helped Liverpool forge a 4-4 tie at the break. Once it won the second-half draw, the Warriors held the ball for more than four minutes, but did not score, squandering its best chance to move out in front.
Instead, after an exchange of goals made it 5-5, the Bees made its decisive move as Kennedy Frink scored one goal and assisted on another, from Marjorie Dehm, with Dehm returning to land her third goal with 8:24 to play.
Now trailing 8-5, the Warriors briefly got closer thanks to Kline’s second goal with 6:18 to play, but Klaben answered a minute later and the Bees shut down Liverpool from there. Jenna Zajac, in defeat, made 11 saves, two more than B’ville counterpart Nicole Burrows.
C-NS, before all this, ripped past Rome Free Academy 17-5 last Monday night, getting 12 different players to score goals as it gave much of the roster a chance to take the field.
Hinting at what it would do against B’ville, only Ryan scored three times, with Liberati, Ghabarou and Kenny managing two goals apiece. Cummings, Samantha Tortora and Kristi Thompson each had one goal and one assist. Bowles, Jill Goettel, Brittney Petterelli and Kayla Massena also found the net.
Then the Northstars recorded an impressive 15-3 win at Auburn on Wednesday night, taking charge during an 8-1 first half and never letting up one bit as it built up momentum for the B’ville rematch.
Ghabarou and Hanna Haven each picked up three-goal hat tricks, with Ryan, Bowles and Cummings getting two goals apiece. Tortora had three assists to go with her lone tally as Kenny and Duffy also scored.
Just as C-NS was defeating B’ville, Liverpool handled Auburn 11-6, mostly due to a dominant first half where it roared out to an 8-1 lead, which gave it room against the Maroons’ late surge.
There was near-perfect offensive balance on the Warriors’ part. Lauren Mancini had two goals and one assist, with O’Brien, Jessica Attaway and Alexis Kline also scoring twice. Cabrey earned a goal and two assists ahead of Meghan DiMarco and Rachel Kline, who managed single goals.
Liverpool still had to play Central Square and Westhill before Thursday’s unveiling of the Section III playoff match-ups, while C-NS would play Syracuse and General Brown on back-to-back nights.
