A Marcellus girls lacrosse season that began with storms of the winter variety came full-circle as storms of the summer variety altered the Section III Class C playoff schedule.
Rain and lightning kept the no. 2 seed Mustangs from even taking the field for last Tuesday’s Class C quarterfinal against no. 7 seed Onondaga, so that pushed the game to Wednesday afternoon.
The delay did nothing to halt Marcellus, though, as it relied on the quartet of Grace Hunt, Grace Nolan, Molly McGuane and Ally Burrows to dominate on the offensive side of the field and put away the Tigers 16-6.
OCS had beaten Watertown IHC 9-5 in the May 18 opening round. It had also played Marcellus fairly close in their April 24 regular-season meeting, though The Mustangs prevailed by a 13-8 margin on that occasion.
A month later, it wouldn’t be as close. The Mustangs’ attack was whole again due to the presence of Hunt, playing with a cast on her left hand after breaking it during a run a couple of week earlier.
Able to get a grip on the lacrosse stick, Hunt used it to find her teammates for frequent conversions as Marcellus moved head of the Tigers 7-3 by the time they reached the half.
Pushing the tempo in the second half, the Mustangs pulled further away from OCS, and again Hunt was the spark, gathering up a season-best seven assists to go with her lone goal.
Grace Nolan had a team-high four goals, giving her 71 for the season, second to LaFayette’s Cassley Jackowski in Section III, and added two assists. McGuane and Burrows also benefited from Hunt’s passing, each getting three-goal hat tricks.
Audrey Cerrone and Emily Hennigan offered further support, each with one goal and one assist, while Ana Clark and Molly Conklin scored, too. Only the work of Tigers goalie Samantha Ashley, who had 11 saves, kept it from being more lopsided.
In Friday’s Class C semifinal at Liverpool High School Stadium, Marcellus goes up against no. 3 seed South Jefferson, who pounded Tully 17-10 in its quarterfinal. Whoever wins here will play Skaneateles or LaFayette in next Tuesday’s sectional final at the Carrier Dome.
