For a month and a half, and through 13 consecutive victories, the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team remained an unstoppable force, taking out opponent after opponent with a deep, explosive attack and a tough, physical defense.
Only in Monday night’s game at Alibrandi Stadium did the streak get halted, as Christian Brothers Academy, who had knocked off West Genesee on May 9, now took out the Lakers in a 14-7 decision.
CBA had a lot of post-season familiarity with Skaneateles, having wrested the Section III Class C crown from them in 2011 on its way to a state championship, and holding back the Lakers again in last year’s tense sectional final.
The Brothers’ move to Class B this spring prevents another showdown late in May, so this would have to sufffice, though Skaneateles would not have head coach Bridget Marquardt on the sidelines, as she was attending to a family matter, leaving assistants Steve Rice and Katie Rozak to take over.
Marquardt’s absence hardly seemed to matter when, 12 seconds into the game, Hannah Powers charged in and beat Alea Bonner for a goal that gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead.
But that turned out to be the only Skaneateles lead of the night. In fact, it did not score again for more than 16 minutes, during which time CBA eased into a 4-1 lead, with two of the goals coming from freshman reserve Lillie Hunt.
Here, and for the rest of the night, the Brothers made the Lakers pay for the double and triple teams it gave whenever Marisa Romeo or Taylor Poplawski got anywhere near the net.
Poplawski and Romeo each had just one goal in the first half. Yet CBA still gained a 7-3 halftime edge as Hunt and Rachel Perla each scored twice, with Olivia Pitonzo also getting a goal.
Early in the second half, back-to-back goals from Molly Wood cut the Brothers’ margin in half, to 7-5, but CBA countered with a 3-0 run, Romeo and Maddie Cook landing goals before Perla completed her hat trick with 14:18 left.
All the while, CBA’s steady, improving defense tailed the Lakers’ deep group of forwards and midfielders, making them earn every scoring opportunity and also forcing turnovers.
To its credit, Skaneateles didn’t go away, as Wood and Kyla Sears scored to move the Lakers within 10-7 with more than eight minutes to play.
Once more, though, the Brothers supplied a quick response, Amanda Fess hitting on a goal to initiate a closing 4-0 spurt where Romeo hit on her third goal, with Emily Ehle and Katie Anderson also finding the net.
