The depth and skill Christian Brothers Academy’s girls lacrosse team displayed when it rolled past J-D in its April 2 opener remained strong – at least until it went on the road.
Once there, the Brothers stumbled for the first time this spring, taking a 9-6 defeat to Wantagh last Friday afternoon in the first part of a two-game Long Island weekend road trip.
The game was tied, 4-4, at halftime, but CBA scored just twice in the second half, allowing Wantagh to get out in front. Emily Ehle still had a three-goal hat trick, with Rachel Vercillo scoring twice. Meredith Strott added one goal and one assist, and Rachel Ziemba also had an assist.
In the second game on Sunday, CBA lost again, this time to Mount Sinai by a 9-4 margin. Ehle did score twice, but only she, along with Vercillo and Sam McKenna, managed goals, while Olivia Penoyer contributed an assist.
During last Tuesday’s game against Oswego at Alibrandi Stadium, the Brothers toyed with the Buccaneers, not letting up until it had a 23-3 winning margin.
Vercillo, with five goals, led the way, though McKenna augmented her four goals with four assists. Ehle scored three times, adding a pair of assists.
Penoyer finished with two goals and two assists. Strott, Alexandria Fess and Evie Lopoo also had two-goal outings. Lilly Hunt, Katie Anderson and Hannah Werner had single goals.
When East Syracuse Minoa played Thursday against Jamesville-DeWitt, it maintained strong defense throughout the night, but still found itself stymied as the Red Rams prevailed 9-5.
J-D fought its way to a 5-3 halftime lead, and kept getting away in large part because its goalie, Alyssa Phillips, was sensational, stopping 12 of the 17 ESM shots she faced.
Carly Stone led the Rams with a three-goal hat trick. Lizzie O’Brien had two goals and one assist, with Caroline Kopp and Meghan Byrnes also scoring twice. Jessica Wipper had the other goal as Cindy Brownson was the only ESM player to score twice. Kate McGarrity, Jenna Kenney, Claire Maring and Olivia McEachron had one goal apiece.
Two nights earlier, ESM went to Fulton and beat the Red Raiders 11-7, a game where the Spartans doubled its 5-3 halftime margin behind three-goal hat tricks from McGarrity and Janee DeLuca.
Brownson and Ashley Scalzo helped out, each of them scoring twice, while Brigid McGinley notched the other goal. McKenna Chesbro led Fulton with two goals and two assists, but other shots got turned away by ESM goalie Claire Callahan, who made six saves.
In Saturday’s non-league game against Liverpool, ESM lost yet another 9-5 decision, the Warriors building its margin during a 6-2 first half and matching every time the Spartans tried to eat into that deficit. Brownson had three goals and DeLuca had three assists as McGarrity and Natalie O’Brien earned one goal apiece.
Coming off a season-opening defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse, Fayetteville-Manlius reached the win column last Monday with a 17-5 romp over visiting Hockaday School, from Texas.
Hockaday, whose coaching staff includes Baldwinsville graduate Meagan Rowe, had already taken on the Bees (and lost) on April 4. Two days later, the Hornets roared out to a 12-2 halftime lead, unleashing its attack and seizing quick control.
Mary Trop led F-M, pouring in six goals. Often, the passes came from Amanda Cramer and Allison Macrae, who both had four assists and also helped Meg Kincaid and Jane Cote, who had three goals apiece. Macrae had two goals. Cramer, Jamison Seabury and Maya Chiesa each had one goal.
But then the Hornets ran into reigning state Class A champion West Genesee on Thursday afternoon and never got into the conversation in a 15-5 loss to the Wildcats.
Five different players – Lexi Meager, Madisyn Kittell, Nicky Delaney, Emily Salanger and Lauren Ferris – earned WG’s first five goals, and it was 6-0 before F-M got on the board late in the first half.
Just to make sure the Hornets didn’t get too close, Kittell and Meager both found the net late in the half for a 9-2 margin at intermission, one that kept growing as Kittell worked her total to four goals to lead the visitors.
On F-M’s side, goalie Aubrey Deveau made 10 saves. Cramer had one goal and one assist, while Cote, Kincaid, Macrae and Megan Josephson also took turns earning goals.
Another defeat came on Saturday, the Hornets falling 16-11 to Watertown, unable to recover from a first half where the Cyclones took an 8-4 lead, led by Olivia Miles, who had six goals and one assist. Cramer had a season-best four goals, with Cote, Macrae and Sydney DeGirolamo each scoring twice. Seabury had one goal and one assist.
Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes lost twice in the week, unable to hold a halftime lead in a 13-12 defeat to Westhill and then falling 20-8 to reigning state Class C champion Skaneateles.
