In the span of less than half an hour Tuesday night on the Wildcat Stadium turf in Camillus, the girls lacrosse season, especially in the Class A ranks, got a whole lot more interesting.
West Genesee, seemingly on its way to a tough victory over visiting Cicero-North Syracuse, ended up surrendering a four-goal lead in the game’s latter stages and saw the Northstars prevail, 12-11, when Hanna Haven put in a rebound goal with four seconds left in regulation.
The recent history between these two teams is not lopsided. C-NS, of course, beat West Genesee in the 2013 Section III Class A semifinals, though the Wildcats avenged that defeat by claiming last year’s sectional title and going on to claim a seventh state championship.
What’s more, despite the major graduation losses it took from that state title team, WG had roared out to a 5-0 start, never trailing in wins over Baldwinsville, Penfield, Victor, Fayetteville-Manlius and Pittsford.
Immediately, C-NS showed that it would give the Wildcats trouble, grabbing a 4-1 lead as Meghan Duffy scored 13 seconds into the game, Haven followed up with a pair of goals and Bryar Cummings also found the net.
After taking a time-out, WG erased that deficit in less than three minutes, eventually leading 6-4 before back-to-back goals from Duffy and Samantha Tortora tied it again, 6-6, late in the first half.
When Grace Osterdale and Madisyn Kittell scored in the last 34 seconds of the half, WG seized the momentum and carried it over into the second half, threatening to pull away.
But after Kyra Bednardki’s goal made it 11-7 with 13:56 to play, the Wildcats would not score again. Mary Kate Bonanni, Lexxi Knoblock, Jenna Lippert, Mallory Eymer and the rest of the C-NS defense took away WG’s passing lanes, and Bri Stahrr worked her total to nine saves.
At the same time, C-NS put in three freshmen midfielders – Jessica Meneilly, Olivia Massena and Megan Tryniski – to give Haven, Cummings and Duffy a breather, and that move paid off.
Still trailing 11-8, the Northstars made up most of the ground when Meneilly and Stephanie Roberts scored 20 seconds apart, and with 3:46 left in regulation, Tortora waited for WG goalie Katherine Widrick to step out and challenge her before firing home the tying goal.
Stahrr and Widrick both made great saves in the last minute of regulation. C-NS got the ball back and, with 14.3 seconds left, called a time-out. Hamilton said the plan was to isolate Tortora on a defender and see what happened.
Tortora lost the ball, a wild scramble followed and Cummings took a shot that Widrick managed to block. Seeing the loose ball, Haven picked it up and, in one motion, fired it into the top of the net, delivering the game-winner.
Great as this win was for C-NS, the Wildcats are hungry for revenge and could get it, since these same two sides meet again in exactly two weeks (April 28, to be exact) at Bragman Stadium.
