If, as advertised, the Skaneateles and West Genesee girls lacrosse are the two best in Central New York, then they delivered a game worthy of those honors on Saturday night at Hyatt Stadium.
For a long while, it looked like the Wildcats would finish on top. But a late surge by the Lakers, capped by dramatics at the end of regulation and overtime, helped the hosts pull out a 6-5 victory – and, perhaps, those precious local bragging rights.
With a perfect 7-0 record, and coming off a big win over Cicero-North Syracuse (the team it lost to in last year’s Section III Class A semifinals) earlier in the week, WG carried more momentum than Skaneateles, who had taken its first loss of the season to Baltimore-area power John Carroll two days before facing the Wildcats.
In a night full of superlative efforts, the first of them belonged to Laker goalie Mallorie Olin. The Wildcats won early draws and kept the ball for a large portion of the first half, continually attacking. But Olin made several point-blank stops, only allowing Riley Donahue’s free-position goal.
Still, WG tried to get away, as Hannah Elmer’s strong individual effort led to one goal, and Donahue’s pass set up Marissa Hudgins for another tally that made it 3-0 late in the first half.
Kyla Sears would turn things around. An inside roll by Sears helped lead to the Lakers’ first goal, and when she found the net again with 38 seconds left in the half, the margin was down to one.
Molly Wood nearly tied it, her shot just missing the target as the horn sounded, but Skaneateles was still quite pleased with only trailing 3-2, the game living up to its high expectations.
Now it was WG’s turn to play solid defense, turning back Skaneateles chances early in the second half. That seemed to spark the dormant attack, and its aggressive play led to more free-position shots that Elmer and Mackenzie Baker finished off.
But those would be the Wildcats’ last goals of the evening. Tate Green, Elizabeth Lane, Bella Falcone and the rest of the Skaneateles back line would keep the margin 5-2 and open a small window that Skaneateles would eventually jump through.
The second Lakers rally began when Hannah Powers scored with 10 minutes left. Two minutes later, Sears returned to complete her hat trick, making it 5-4, and 43 seconds later Nicole Beatson flipped a shot past Katherine Widrick and forged a 5-5 tie.
Through the tense final stages of regulation, the Lakers held the ball for more than three minutes content to seek one shot near the end of the clock. Instead, Powers whistled with a charge with 24 seconds left, giving WG a chance to win it.
And that’s when it got crazy.
WG charged down the field, and the ball went to Hudgins, who charged straight to the net and ripped a shot past Olin with 5.1 seconds to play. Instead of a Wildcat celebration, though, Hudgins’ stick was checked – and found to be illegal.
So it went to a pair of three-minute overtime periods. Neither team scored in the first OT, adding to the tension, as Olin again made big stops, recording four saves to move her total to 13.
In the second OT, Skaneateles got the ball with less than a minute left. The ball again found its way to to Powers, who put home the go-ahead goal with 34.5 seconds to play.
Powers’ stick was legal, and though the Wildcats forced a turnover and charged in the waning seconds, Skaneateles would hang on for a memorable victory.
