What it came down to, for the West Genesee girls lacrosse team, was the simple idea that 17 seniors, bitterly disappointed a season ago, did not want to go through that disappointment again.
And the Wildcats didn’t have to, riding its hunger and determination all the way to the seventh state Class A championship in program history, attained Saturday afternoon at SUNY-Cortland with a convincing 15-10 victory over West Islip.
One of those seniors, captain and midfielder Marissa Hudgins, said the victory proved that 2013, when WG lost in the Section III semifinals to Cicero-North Syracuse, was a misstep that her team was bent on correcting.
“We learned from that loss and we worked so hard to get back,” she said. “We put everything we had into this game.”
For head coach Bob Elmer, the game had a particular meaning, since his youngest daughter, Hannah Elmer, capped off her exemplary senior season with four goals and five assists, garnering tournament MVP honors on the same SUNY-Cortland campus where she will return to play college lacrosse.
“It’s just amazing,” said Bob Elmer. “She loves the sport so much, watches so many game tapes. She’s been through it all.”
And that’s not an exaggeration. When Hannah was 4 years old, she was considered the team’s mascot when WG won its first state title back in 2001. Since then, she’s literally grown up within the arms of the Wildcats’ program, right to the last and most satisfying chapter.
As it turned out, WG’s biggest challenge on this day was recuperating from Friday’s draining state semifinal epic, where it prevailed 10-9 over Pittsford in triple overtime. Bob Elmer said he told the players to get plenty of rest and eat well before taking the field on Saturday, and they listened.
Waiting for them was a West Islip team from Suffolk County, Long Island playing in its first-ever state final. But the Lions were far from scared, as it demonstrated by erasing WG’s early 3-0 lead with three straight goals in the middle of the first half.
Yet the Wildcats never trailed, going in front for good on Elmer’s goal with 7:57 left in the first half, and she found the net again later in the half, though Lena Ripotella answered to pull West Islip within one, 5-4, at the break.
Determined to put things away, WG turned to Hannah Elmer, who in a 90-second span early in the second half scored twice and then assisted on Jackie Pardee’s third goal of the afternoon.
An exchange of goals brought the Wildcats to the homestretch clinging to an 11-8 lead, nearly the same margin that it squandered late in regulation against Pittsford.
“We were not letting that happen again,” said Hannah Elmer.
And it didn’t, as Hudgins fed Mackenzie Baker for a goal that started a decisive 4-0 run. Of course, Elmer was right in the middle of it, scoring once more and assisting Grace Osterdale and Cailyn Negus on goals that helped put another state championship away.
Aiding in that cause was the likes of defenders Mia DiBello, Liz Bova and Madison Pritchard, who played at their best down the stretch. Bob Elmer singled out his long-time assistant coach, Dan Hallinan, for particular praise for the work he did with the defensive unit all season.
DiBello made the All-Tournament team, as did Pardee, Hudgins and Riley Donahue, who put up three goals and one assist in the state final. More than the honors, though, was the way the Wildcats turned the disappointment of 2013 into a rallying cry – and a run toward more history.
“Last season was tough for us, and I never let them forget it,” said Bob Elmer. “I’m so proud that it turned out this way.”
