Even as it garnered the no. 2 spot in the first state Class A rankings of the spring, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team could not revel in it.
That was because the Northstars started at a tough eight-day stretch where it would tackle two local rivals, Liverpool and Baldwinsville, and then visit reigning state Class C champion Skaneateles before West Genesee, no. 3 in the state rankings, comes to Bragman Stadium this Tuesday, eager to avenge its defeat to C-NS on April 14.
It all started with Liverpool, the local rivalry renewing itself at LHS Stadium last Tuesday night, and it was an active, high-scoring game in the first half before the Northstars took over in the latter stages to beat the Warriors 19-7.
It was not that lopsided in the early going. Liverpool, led by Kasi Cabrey (three goals) and Julia Sardellas (two goals), found some success, only to have the Warriors’ own defense get rattled plenty of time as C-NS closed the first half strong and led, 10-6, at intermission.
The getaway shortly followed, the Northstars shoring up its defense and displaying how diverse its attack can be, with Christie Hahn producing a team-best four goals.
Meghan Duffy and Hanna Haven both had three goals and three assists. Bryar Cummings scored three times and added a single assist, while Stephanie Roberts had two goals and two assists. Samantha Tortora notched a season-best five assists to go with her lone goal as Julia Alberici, Megan Tryniski and Jessica Meneilly also found the net.
On Liverpool’s side, Jen Kershner and Rachel Kline added single goals to the totals of Cabrey and Sardella, with Megan Fitzpatrick adding an assist. Combined, Megan Evangelista and Marissa Madonna had seven saves in the net.
C-NS now turned its attention to Baldwinsville, no. 6 in the state Class A rankings, whom it had beat in a wild 15-13 battle April 10 at Onondaga Community College’s Murphy Field. Now, on the Bragman Stadium turf, it proved quite tense most of the way, but once again, a strong finish from the Northstars paid off as it gained a 12-8 victory over the Bees.
Twice in the game, C-NS faced a crisis. A run of three goals in 39 seconds gave B’ville a 5-4 lead late in the first half, leading the Northstars to call a time-out. It worked, as Tortora, Haven and Duffy all scored in a span of less than 90 seconds to put the home side up 7-5 at the break.
It was still a two-goal margin, 8-6, when the Bees pulled back even on goals from Glory Johnson and Taylor Gebhardt, the latter scoring for the fourth time with 9:31 to play.
Here, no time-out was required, just the strong play of a defense bolstered by the return of Megan Caveny to full-time duty from illness that kept her out early this season.
Helped by Caveny and Bri Stahrr, who finished with 10 saves, C-NS blanked the Bees the rest of the way, and Roberts’ goal with 5:19 to play put the Northstars ahead for good. Not sitting on the lead, Cummings, Duffy and Haven all found the net in the closing minutes as Duffy finished with four goals, Haven three goals and Cummings and Tortora two goals apiece.
The toll of these two games would show up Saturday, at Skaneateles, where the reigning state Class C champion Lakers, who hadn’t played since Tuesday, used a big run late in the first half as the decisive factor in a 16-11 victory over the Northstars.
C-NS had just tied it, 2-2, midway through the first half when Bailey Herr offered an answer just eight seconds later. As it turned out, it gave the Lakers the lead for good.
A four-minute run followed where Hannah Powers and Hannah Logan both notched a goal and assist, and Kyla Sears found the net, too, suddenly making it 6-2. When the Northstars cut the margin to 8-5, Herr and Powers both landed goals in the last minute of the half.
All of this gave Skaneateles a 10-5 halftime cushion, leading to a second half that continued the pattern of C-NS putting up plenty of goals, but the Lakers responding on each occasion.
Defensively, the Lakers did its best work on C Duffy, holding her to a goal and two assists, which made up for the production of Cummings (four goals) and Haven (three goals, three assists) on the Northstars’ end.
Largely, the Lakers’ attack was a three-player act, with Herr stepping up in a big way by producing five goals to match the totals of Sears and Powers. Makena Gorman added one goal and one assist.
Liverpool got back in the win column Thursday night, rolling past Syracuse 11-3 as Sardella got four goals and Cabrey notched four assists to go with her three-goal hat trick. Kershner added two goals as Maggie Tassone and Cassidy Hall had one goal apiece.
However, the Warriors lost Saturday to unbeaten Watertown 12-5, the unbeaten Cyclones getting in front 7-3 by halftime and not letting up thanks to four goals from Morgan Girardi and three goals and four assists from Jill Girardi.
Only Sardella scored twice for Liverpool, with Cabrey, Kershner and Megan Fitzpatrick getting the other goals. Hall and Taylor Fahey added assists.
