For as long as any Marcellus girls lacrosse player can remember, Skaneateles has served as a rival, nemesis and benchmark, all at the same time.
So it had to come with immense satisfaction for the Mustangs to rally and knock off the Lakers 9-8 in overtime last Thursday night, the first time in five years that the team in green has beaten their neighbors in blue and gold.
Ever since 2011, Marcellus and Sknaeateles had met eight times, and the Lakers won all of them, including several post-season encounters. As reigning Section III Class C champions, Skaneateles was expected to, again, get the best of the Mustangs.
But everything changed in March when Skaneateles lost the area’s top talent, junior attacker Kyla Sears, for the season with a torn ACL. Since then, the Lakers, facing a brutal early schedule, had gone 5-4, taking defeats to Suffern, Watertown, West Genesee and Garden City.
Marcellus witnessed all this, but knew that, unless it could top Skaneateles on the field, it didn’t mean too much.
This game was close and tense from the outset. No one could get away, and the two sides were tied, 5-5, at halftime, before the defenses took over for much of the second half, at least keeping the pace within a range the Mustangs wanted.
With less than two minutes to play, Marcellus trailed, 8-7, and the Lakers were trying to runt out the clock. But the Mustangs’ defense forced a big turnover and worked the ball to Maddie Conklin, who put a shot past Allison Weiss to tie it with 1:43 left.
Skaneateles reclaimed possession, only to see Sarah Annable make the biggest of her seven saves in the waning seconds of regulation. Again, the Lakers got the draw in OT, but again the Mustangs made a stop and forced a turnover.
Grace Coon would flash open and put the ball in the net for the game-winner, her second goal of the night. Colette Rigas and Katherine LoCastro also scored twice as Taylor Reich managed a goal and three assists. Olivia Bird also had a goal and Abby Vetsch contributed an assist.
Prior to this, the Mustangs first took on Tully last Tuesday and put away the Black Knights 14-8, gaining most of that margin during an 8-3 push through the first half.
Conklin, with three goals and two assists, led a well-balanced Marcellus attack where Coon and Abby Vetsch both earned three-goal hat tricks of their own. Rigas scored twice as Lily Powell added a goal and joined Coon in the assist column. Locastro and Anna Vetsch found the net, too, as Bird contributed a pair of assists.
Marcellus followed-up Saturday with a 12-5 victory over Pittsford Sutherland, gaining a 7-2 edge by halftime as Conklin had four assists to go with her pair of goals. Locastro scored three times as Coon and Abby Vetsch both matched Conklin’s two-goal output. Rigas had a goal and two assists as Powell and Anna Vetsch had the other goals.
Two local sides went at it Friday as Westhill visited Jordan-Elbridge, and that one went to overtime, too, before the state Class C no. 6-ranked Warriors pulled it out, 12-11, and improved to 7-1 on the season.
Eight different Westhill players scored goals, with only Haileigh Farrell getting a hat trick. Caroline Miller and Maura McAnaney had two goals apiece, while Shelby Stack picked up four assists and joined Sam VanBuren, Abby Stack, Natalie Jetter and Erin McMullen with single goals. Katelyn Karleski added an assist.
Thwarted by Warriors goalie Morgan Hayes, who had eight saves, J-E still saw Marissa Malvaso gain three goals and one assist, with Miranda Malvaso scoring twice. Alexis Switzer had a goal and two assists, with single tallies also going to Emily Kuehnle, Alexis Fietta, Katie Goodrich, Antonia Malvaso and Emily Somes. Anna Bozeat made nine saves.
Before this, J-E had another terrific opportunity to earn a quality win against visiting Cazenovia last Monday afternoon, but could not quite hold on to it in the second half, falling to the Lakers 11-8.
During an active first half, the Eagles traded goals until, with a 3-0 run, it took a 6-4 advantage. It stayed that way into the second half, too, J-E getting in front 8-5 as, by that point, Miranda Malvaso had a three-goal hat trick, with Antonia Malvaso accumulating a goal and three assists and Marissa Malvaso converting twice.
For the rest of the game, though, the Eagles could not manufacture anything against a pumped-up Cazenovia defense, and by the middle of the second half the Lakers had sprinted out in front for good.
Closing on a 6-0 run, Cazenovia saw Keara Dwyer and Chloe Willard each net four goals to overcome 11 saves Bozeat. Outside the Malvaso sisters, only Alexis Fietta and Emily Kuehnle earned goals, with Fietta adding two assists and Kuehnle one assist.
Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes won Friday over Mexico 12-7 and climbed back to the .500 mark (12-7), pulling away in the second half behind Molly McInerney’s five goals and Katy McInerney’s five assists. Rhonee Shea Pal, Emma Driscoll and Grace Lambrych had two goals apiece as Laura Patulski picked up the other goal.
