Someone quite good, ranked within the state Class A top five for the entire season, was going to see its season end in Thursday night’s Section III Class A girls lacrosse semifinals at Chittenango High School.
Christian Brothers Academy was determined not to exit the scene, and the Brothers, the no. 3 seed and the no. 3-ranked team in the state, had to turn back Cicero-North Syracuse, the no. 2 seed right behind them in the state poll in the no. 4 spot, in a high-quality semifinal clash.
The difference, as it turned out, was that the Brothers, through discipline and strong conditioning, played its best down the stretch, and it translated into a 12-8 victory over the Northstars.
Head coach Doug Sedgwick said that, when CBA met large-school teams in seasons past, the effort and desire was there, but not the stamina. To address that, the team went through rigorous off-season conditioning, and all of it was needed against a C-NS side possessing plenty of speed and skill that wanted to advance to its third straight sectional final.
Much of the game was played on close terms. Neither team had a lead of more than one goal for much of the first half, and swapped the lead with various two-goal runs.
When Sam McKenna, off a great pass from Grace Huslander, scored with 2.2 seconds left in the half, the Brothers got its first breathing space and led, 7-5, at the break – only to see C-NS get goals from Samantha Tortora and Brenna Duffy early in the second half to tie it again, 7-7.
Now it was CBA’s turn for a run, Rachel Ziemba and Emily Ehle both scoring less than two minutes apart. This, as it turned out, would give the Brothers the lead for good.
After Christie Hahn netted her third goal with 13:36 to play, C-NS was shut out the rest of the way. The Brothers’ defense, led by Kate Derrenbacker, Alexa Radziewicz and Lexi Luthringer, did a superb job all night watching C-NS’s top players, holding Hanna Haven to one goal and Meghan Duffy to one assist, while goalie Annie O’Brien made four saves.
Meredith Strott, Claire Jeschke and Olivia Penoyer hit late goals to clinch it, as Penoyer finished with a team-high three goals. McKenna had three assists to go with her pair of tallies as Emily Ehle scored twice and Rachel Vercillo had two assists. Huslander and Alexandria Fess also had goals.
With the win, CBA earned a trip to the Carrier Dome Tuesday night to try and topple top seed and defending state champion West Genesee in the Class A sectional final. The Wildcats were shut out by Baldwinsville in the first half of the other semifinal game, but rallied to beat the Bees 4-2.
CBA started out by shutting out no. 6 seed Liverpool 14-0 in last Tuesday’s opening round at Alibrandi Stadium. An airtight defense took away anything the Warriors tried to establish, with O’Brien and Sloane Nicoletti-Watson stopping all 10 shots they faced.
A steady attack produced a 7-0 halftime lead that doubled by game’s end. Vercillo, Strott, Penoyer, Amanda Fess and Hannah Werner – had two goals apiece, with Ziemba getting a goal and three assists. Ehle had a goal and two assists as McKenna and Alexandria Fess also scored. Hulslander and Evie Lopoo earned assists.
Fayetteville-Manlius almost joined CBA in the semifinals. As the no. 5 seed, with few expectations outside of its huddle, the Hornets nearly stunned no. 4 seed Baldwinsville in their opening-round match before a late comeback helped the Bees upend F-M 15-12.
They had met twice in an eight-day span in the regular season, the Hornets falling 13-12 in overtime on April 14 and, a week later, dropping a 14-9 decision at home. Now, in the third meeting, F-M almost figured out the equation.
During a back-and-forth first half, the Hornets trailed, 5-3, but then scored three straight goals to take a 6-5 lead to the break and then, not stopping there, went up 9-5 early in the second half.
B’ville absorbed all this, and then pushed back, with a rush of goals to tie it, 9-9, before F-M struck with a three-goal run of its own to lead 12-9 with less than 10 minutes to play.
Somehow, the Bees made one more comeback, pulling even at 12-12, and then moving out in front for good, all in a span of less than five minutes, and the Hornets were unable to recover.
Allison Macrae, with three goals and one assist, led a well-balanced F-M attack where Jamison Seabury also scored three times. Sydney DeGirolamo had two goals and one assist, with Amanda Cramer also scoring twice. Mary Trop and Jane Cote each had one goal and one assist.
Aubrey Deveau managed eight saves, but B’ville still got to her late, led by Alex Leo, who had five goals, and Glory Johnson, who added four goals. F-M’s season finished with a record of 8-9.
