Marisa Romeo is at Harvard, Taylor Poplawski is making big contributions at Syracuse and others, like Alyssa Pitonzo, Olivia Pitonzo, Rachel Perla and Maddie Calkins, have left the scene after leading Christian Brothers Academy’s girls lacrosse team to state championships two of the last three years.
But don’t fret too much for head coach Doug Sedgwick and his squad. Plenty of talent is back, and they’re ready to go after more glory, if last Tuesday night’s emphatic 21-0 shutout over Whitesboro in the season opener at Alibrandi Stadium was any indication.
Like so many other local teams, CBA had to spend most of the first two weeks of practice in the gymnasium and wait for the fields to clear. And it did, though piles of snow remained quite visible on this chilly opening night.
What eases the Brothers’ transition away from the likes of Romeo and Poplawski is having a stable midfield, anchored by Emily Ehle, Rachel Vercillo and Maddie Cook (all of them sophomores), who can run the attack.
And CBA attacked plenty against Homer, winning draws and piling up goals until it had a 16-0 lead at halftime. This allowed the Brothers to use everyone on the roster, and they all seemed to contribute to the scoring column, too.
In all, 15 players found the net, none more than twice. Cook, Ehle, Alex Fess, Lilly Hunt, Sam McKenna and Hannah Wenner each had two goals, with Hunt and Wenner both adding a pair of assists. Vercillo, Evie Lopoo, Kate Derrenbacker, Katie Anderson, Amanda Fess, Adriana Fess, Chloe Germain, Tessa Queri and Meredith Strott got single goals.
As CBA rested for Tuesday’s visit to East Syracuse-Minoa, the Spartans opened with two emphatic performances, starting last Thursday night with a 20-9 romp over Tully.
Sam Dooling, back from the knee injury that sidelined her last April and caused the Spartans’ promising season to falter, had an emphatic season debut, pouring in eight goals and adding an assist, nearly matching the Black Knights all by herself.
Haley DeVona helped out, earning five goals and two assists, while Kate McGarrity had three goals to go with her pair of assists. Katy Steigerwald had one goal and one assist as Cindy Brownson, Brigit McGinley and Jenna Kenney also got single tallies.
Two days later, against Fulton, ESM pulled off a similar effort, rolling past the Red Raiders 20-8.
Each side got what it wanted on the offensive end in the first half, but with ESM controlling most of the draws, it established a 12-5 margin, which allowed the defense ample time to settle down, which it did in the latter stages as the margin grew to double digits.
DeVona, with four goals and three assists, and Dooling, with five goals and one assist, led the ESM assault. Steigerwald scored twice, adding three assists, while McGarrity had two goals and two assists. Brownson also scored twice as McGinley and Morgan Young notched single goals.
Weather had pushed Jamesville-DeWitt’s opener at Marcellus back to Friday night, but the delay did little to improve the Red Rams’ chances as it fell to the Mustangs 18-7.
Marcellus, who went to the Section III Class C final a year ago before falling to eventual state finalist Skaneateles, set a ferocious pace and led, 10-4, by halftime, J-D unable to keep up as three different Mustangs – Grace Nolan, Ally Burrows and Audrey Cerrone – had five-goal outings, with Grace Hunt adding four assists.
Grace Huslander still scored three times, with Caroline Kopp and Carly Stone each getting a pair of goals. Lizzie O’Brien got two assists as Amber Hyatt and Jessica Wipper had one assist apiece.
