Many different times in many different settings, the Marcellus girls lacrosse team had tried to conquer its more storied neighbors from Skaneateles in a Section III playoff setting, only to get turned back.
Few, if any, of those defeats compared, in terms of pain and frustration, to what took place Thursday night at Christian Brothers Academy’s Alibrandi Stadium, a Class C semifinal that the Mustangs led most of the way before it got snatched from them in a cruel 11-10 defeat to the Lakers.
For most of the 50 minutes, it looked like Marcellus would not just compete with Skaneateles, but vanquish them and end the Lakers’ hopes of repeating as sectional and state champions while gaining as big a win as the program had ever achieved.
The irony was that, unlike years past, Marcellus and Skaneateles didn’t meet in the regular season, but that only seemed to add to the anticipation, because, as dominant as the Lakers appeared at times this spring, it still had to prove itself to the Mustangs on the field.
They traded goals through most of the first half before Audrey Cerrone converted at the 17:01 mark to break a 3-3 tie. The lead grew to 5-3 before Skaneateles tied it again, only to see Marcellus move back in front, 6-5, just before the break.
Winning five consecutive draws at one point, Marcellus was able to possess the ball for long stretches of the second half, and stretched its lead to 9-6, forcing the Lakers to use the last of its time-outs. By then, Cerrone had three goals, with Ally Burrows and Maddie Conklin adding two goals apiece.
After the Lakers moved within one, 9-8, the Mustangs worked the ball around until Grace Coon, with a nifty move that fooled Skaneateles goalie Allison Weiss, flung the ball into the unoccupied net with 2:34 to play.
But Skaneateles wasn’t done. Twenty seconds later, Kyla Sears, the Lakers’ leading goal-scorer all season, cut the margin to 10-9, and Skaneateles won back possession, working it until Sears netted her third goal with 1:28 left and it was tied again, 10-10.
Claiming the ensuing draw, Marcellus wanted to take the last shot of regulation, but Skaneateles forced a turnover and worked it around until Hannah Powers flung a shot past Sarah Annable with 12 seconds left, sending the Lakers to the sectional final against General Brown – and ending the Mustangs’ season in a painful manner again.
