One tense, exciting and stressful Section III Class C girls lacrosse game was, for Skaneateles, more than enough.
After escaping Marcellus in a dramatic, come-from-behind semifinal May 21 at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium, the Lakers went to the Carrier Dome Tuesday and, playing a superb all-around game, rolled past General Brown 16-5 to earn its third consecutive sectional championship.
True, the game involved more big production from the duo of Kyla Sears and Hannah Powers, but it also featured a swarming defense that never let the no. 3 seed Lions, playing in its first-ever sectional final, get close to the 17 goals it produced in its semifinal win over no. 2 seed South Jefferson.
All of it was a direct reaction to what had taken place against Marcellus. According to Lakers head coach Bridget Marquardt, the comeback to beat the Mustangs gave her team “a second chance” and that it had to play better moving forward.
Powers put it another way. “Everyone was a little angry,” she said, and Powers and her teammates channeled that anger into an effort against General Brown that left no doubts.
Sears set the tone in the opening seconds. Right after singing the national anthem, Sears picked up the ground ball from Elizabeth Lane’s draw, tore down the turf, knocked down and stepped over a GB defender before firing a shot past Lions goalie Katelyn Longamore 12 seconds into the game.
“She’s fast, tenacious and never quits, and she’s always going full team ahead no matter where the ball is,” said Marquardt.
That was one of four first-half goals, plus two assists, from Sears, everything from drives to the net to a solo break up the middle that Longamore had no chance of stopping. When GB tried to bottle up Lane, she passed it out, and Powers scored three times, with Molly Newton and Catie Woodruff also earning goals.
All of this happened despite the Lions getting an equal number of draws. Put to work, the Lakers’ back line, anchored by Lane, Bella Falcone, Lauren Goodchild, Emmeline Graham and Tate Green, was close to perfect in those pivotal early stages.
Any time a GB player, such as Bryanna Fazio (who was held without a goal), got the ball near the net, the Lakers offered double teams that led to turnovers. Even when the occasional shot was made, sophomore goalie Emliy Baldwin snapped them up with a handful of point-blank stops.
“Our defense played phenomenal”, said Marquardt.
Only Emily Amell netted a goal for the Lions in the first half, at the 10:38 mark, which Powers answered less than a minute later, which ignited a 5-0 run that closed the half and created a 9-1 margin.
Sears netted her fifth goal 1:11 into the second half to make it 10-1. Amell got a pair of goals for GB’s only sustained burst, which got answered by Woodruff and Hannah Logan before Sears’ sixth goal, and 95th of the season, with 15:20 left set up a running clock, with Mae McGlynn, Olivia Navaroli and Makena Gorman adding late goals after many of the starters exited.
Skaneateles will face Section IV champion Chenango Forks in the opening round of the state Class C tournament Thursday at Maine-Endwell, near Binghamton. The Lakers will need to win that game, plus a regional final Saturday at SUNY-Canton, to return to SUNY-Cortland for next weekend’s state Class C final four.
