On the brink of the Section III Class C playoffs, the Marcellus girls lacrosse team could lay claim to a perfect mark, with one glaring exception.
That would be Skaneateles, who fought past the Mustangs 14-12 in overtime on April 15 and, in last Wednesday’s rematch at Hyatt Stadium, took charge late in the first half to prevail again, this time by a more decisive 17-9 margin.
The rivals and neighbors, also next to each other in the state rankings (Marcellus at no. 5, Skaneateles at no. 6), were gathered again, both of them undefeated since that first encounter, and at first it looked like the second edition would be just as close, hard-fought and exciting.
Ally Burrows and Grace Hunt hit on early goals to put Marcellus up 2-0. Kyla Sears and Nicole Beatson answered to forge a 2-2 tie, but Molly McGuane’s goal at the 11:47 mark put the Mustangs back in front.
But everything changed the moment Beatson scored her second goal at the 15:11 mark. That ignited an outburst of four goals in a span of less than 90 seconds from four different players as Hannah Powers, Emma Ford and Kyla Sears all followed up Beatson’s tally to give Skaneateles a lead it would not relinquish.
At the heart of the surge was what happened in the draw circle. Lakers head coach Bridget Marquardt said that at least six of her players can handle draws, but after Alana Navaroli performed those duties in the last two games, freshman Hannah Logan got some chances here.
Logan flourished, constantly getting the ball to her teammates, igniting attacks that led to those crucial goals late in the first half as Powers and Sears both notched three-goal hat tricks by the time they reached the break.
All told, it was an 8-1 Skaneateles spurt to close the half, the lone Mustang goal coming from Grace Nolan, who finally scored against the Lakers after getting held without a point in the first meeting.
Nolan would add a goal in the second half and McGuane would score three times as Hunt and Burrows matched Nolan with two goals apiece, but Skaneateles never let the Mustangs get closer the rest of the way.
Powers, with four goals and two assists, led the attack, while Beatson, Navaroli, Molly Wood and Casey VanSlyke each scored twice and Logan would tack on a second-half goal.
And so the Mustangs moved on, hoping that it would get a third chance in the post-season to take Skaneateles down, and met General Brown Saturday afternoon, looking far from sharp but still registering a 12-8 victory over the Lions.
During an active first half, Marcellus steadily built a 9-4 lead, which proved important since General Brown slowed the game down in the second half, making small inroads but not catching up.
Nolan finished with five goals and one assist, while Audrey Cerrone found the net three times. Hunt had a goal and three assists as McGuane, Ally Burrows and Lexy Bird had one goal apiece.
At 12-2, Marcellus still had one more home game on Monday, against Westhill, preceding a Wednesday trip to Chittenango and the start of the Section III Class C playoffs this weekend.
