One big and important rival was cast aside by the Marcellus girls lacrosse team, but an even bigger rival must get conquered if the Mustangs want to get to the Carrier Dome and earn a shot at the Section III Class C championship.
When the no. 4 seed Mustangs took down no. 5 seed Westhill 11-7 in Tuesday night’s sectional quarterfinal game, it set up a semifinal date with top seed and defending state champion Skaneateles, whom Marceellus did not meet in the regular season.
This game was a matter of patience for Marcellus, who had topped the Warriors 15-11 earlier this month in what was head coach Dick Lundblad’s 200th career victory and had handled Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 20-7 in the sectional tournament’s opening round May 16 as Westhill was routing Clinton 20-1.
Each side scored twice in the game’s first five minutes – Shelby Stack and Erin McMullen for Westhill, Audrey Cerrone and Maddie Conklin for Marcellus. From there, though the Mustangs controlled the ball for large portions of the first half, it could not pull in front.
Instead, the Warriors’ defense, led by Tatiana Monds, Delaney Martin, Makayla Kanavy and Paige Gacek, kept making stops, and goalie Morgan Hayes recorded four saves, most of them on point-blank looks.
Stack, meanwhile, tacked on two more goals, and that was enough for the Warriors to lead, 4-3, at the break. Hayes, who had split goalie duties with Esther Clifford, would stay on the field when the second half got underway.
But from the moment Conklin found Cerrone for a goal 2:19 into the second half to tie the game 4-4, the Mustangs took over. Collette Rigas hit the go-ahead tally less than 90 seconds later, and when Conklin scored off a feed from Keelin Kelly to make it 6-4, Westhill called a time-out.
That didn’t stop Marcellus, though. Conklin tacked on a fourth goal before the Warriors ended a 15-plus-minute scoring drought as Natalie Jetter converted.
Quickly shaking that off, the Mustangs got back-to-back goals from Coon and a fifth goal from Conklin that, with 7:41 to play, all but finished off the Warriors, despite late goals from McMullen and Kaileigh Farrell that made it a bit closer.
The Mustangs’ back line, including Jackie Madden, Taylor Reich, Maddi Locastro and Maggie Fiacchi, would contain Westhill most of the second half, and goalie Sarah Annable would earn most of her 11 saves after the break, matching Hayes’ total.
Now Marcellus would face a Skaneateles side that crushed Homer 21-4 in its sectional quarterfinal. Many times over the years, the Lakers have caused post-season heartbreak for the Mustangs, and now they meet again at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium Thursday at 5 p.m. The winner goes to the Dome for next Tuesday’s title game against South Jefferson or General Brown.
