Within a 48-hour span, the Westhill and Jordan-Elbridge girls lacrosse teams both got to face once-flourishing Bishop Ludden – and both of them would win.
It started last Tuesday night, where the Warriors gave the once-hot Gaelic Knights its third loss in four games, prevailing 10-8.
Having fought its way to a 4-2 halftime lead, the Warriors maintained that edge through a back-and-forth second half that saw Shelby Stack carry her team’s offense, finishing with four goals and three assists, while Ryan Laible added three goals. Haleigh Farrell scored twice and Liz McAnaney had the other goal.
On Ludden’s side, just three players – Teresa Shattuck, Nicole Granteed and Jenn Vazquez – put in goals, with Shattuck getting four goals and Granteed and Vazquez managing two goals apiece. Meg Farrell, in goal, recorded seven saves.
Then J-E had its turn on Thursday afternoon, mostly relying on the quartet of Malvaso sisters to battle past Ludden by a score of 11-10.
An active first half saw J-E grab an 8-6 lead. The pace slowed after the break, with the Gaelic Knights inching closer, but not quite able to force overtime.
Marissa Malvaso, with four goals and two assists, set the Eagles’ pace, with Miranda Malvaso adding her own three-goal hat trick. Alexis Malvaso added three assists and Antonia Malvaso one goal, with the four sisters picking up 27 ground balls between them.
Beyond them, Alexis Fietta scored twice and Morgan Conroy picked up seven saves. Ludden lost despite Shattuck’s six goals and one assist, with Gemma O’Kane scoring twice. Vazquez and Stephanie Brazell had the other goals.
Before that, J-E had one of its best showings of the season last Monday afternoon, making the long trip to Clinton and scoring at will in a 17-5 romp over the Warriors.
The Eagles reached double digits by halftime, gaining a 10-3 lead. And the rest proved just as smooth as Gabby Thorpe, with four goals and two assists, and Marissa Malvaso, with three goals and two assists, led the charge.
Miranda Malvaso, Alexis Malvaso and Emily Kuehnle each scored twice, with Katie Goodrich getting a goal and two assists. Fietta, Haley Schwarting, Annalea O’Brien also found the net.
For Westhill, though, the far bigger challenge loomed Saturday when state Class C no. 1-ranked Skaneateles paid a visit, and the Lakers reminded everyone why it has that stature, using timely scoring blitzes to beat the Warriors 19-4.
At least for a few minutes, all was fine for Westhill as Morgan Hayes made a save on the Lakers’ first possession and Stack scored at the 3:25 mark to put her side in front 1-0.
But with an aggressive defense and effective transition game, the Lakers answered with six straight goals, though Westhill did slow it down late in the half and, with goals from Lydia Gosson and Sophia Dower, pulled within 8-3 by halftime.
Any suspense was doused, though, when Skaneateles scored five times in the first 4:10 of the second half to create the running clock. Dana Radin had the Warriors’ lone second-half tally as Kyla Sears (five goals, two assists) and Hannah Powers (four goals, two assists) led the Lakers’ efforts.
This followed last Thursday’s hard-fought 10-7 win over LaFayette, a game that was tied 5-5 at halftime before the Warriors’ defense took over, holding the Lancers to just two goals the rest of the way as Hayes and Esther Clifford combined for 11 saves.
Farrell and Stack carried the attack, finishing with four goals apiece. Dower, with a goal and two assists, and Laible, with two assists, offered the help as Jetter got the other goal.
J-E went on from beating Ludden to bashing Manlius-Pebble Hill 14-3 on Friday, building up a 10-0 lead by halftime as 10 different players scored goals.
Alexis Malvaso found the net three times, with Kuenhle and Miranda Malvaso getting two goals apiece. Thorpe had a goal and three assists, while Fietta, Marissa Malvaso, Haley Schwarting, Emily Somes, Torey Kopp and Katie Goodrich also put in goals.
