With a great chance to knock off a Class A opponent, the Cazenovia girls lacrosse team led Fayetteville-Manlius late in the first half last Monday night, only to see the Hornets rally and prevail by an 11-7 margin.
Starting out strong, F-M saw Amanda Cramer, Kiera Shanley and Sydney DeGirolamo score in the game’s first five minutes. But an early 4-1 lead vanished when Cazenovia netted four consecutive goals, capped by Chloe Willard’s tally that gave the Lakers a 5-4 edge.
By far, the most important play of the night was Mary Trop finding the net just before halftime. That halted Cazenovia’s momentum and tied the game, 5-5, and that carried over into the second half, where F-M blanked the Lakers and went on a decisive 4-0 run. Cramer did most of that damage, finishing the night with four goals, her passes often coming from Jane Cote, who earned four assists.
On the Lakers’ side, Willard, with four goals and one assist, accounted for more than half her team’s production. No one else had more than one goal as Keara Dwyer, Megan Henderson and Olivia McEntee found that mark. Olivia Catania added an assist as goalie Sophie Goris finished with 11 saves.
Two days later, Cazenovia faced the combined Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes team at West Genesee’s Mike Messere Field, where a stingy defense and the combined production of Dwyer and Willard produced a 12-3 victory.
Throughout the game, Cazenovia turned back whatever Ludden-Grimes tried to establish. All the while, Dwyer lit up the opposition for four goals and two assists, while Willard also converted four times, adding a single assist.
Help came from Catania and Lucy Connor, who each had one goal and one assist. Paige Nardella and Mikaylee Whalen chimed in for goals, with Goris so well-protected by the Lakers’ back line that she only had to make five saves.
On Saturday night, Cazenovia was back home to take on General Brown and rolled past the Lions 13-5. The Lakers led by just two, 5-3, at halftime, but wore down the Lions’ defenses early in the second half by going on a 6-1 run.
Eight different players scored goals, led by Connor and Nardella, who both had three goals and one assist. McEntee managed two goals and one assist as Willard gained one goal and two assists. Catania had a goal and assist as Dwyer, Henderson and Molly Carges also converted.
That win improved the Lakers to 5-2 heading into a crucial week where it faces two OHSL Liberty division foes of similar quality, visiting Westhill Tuesday and returning home Thursday night to face Marcellus.
Winless going into last week’s action, Chittenango changed that equation by going to Oswego last Monday night and rallying to beat the Buccaneers 11-9.
Having not played since April 1 (a loss to Central Square), the Bears, following a 10-day weather-enforced layoff, traded goals with Oswego and only trailed, 5-4, at halftime before seizing control behind the work of Ashley Young, who scored five times and added an assist.
Nicole Zimmer offered most of the help thanks to a three-goal hat trick. Lauren Billington had two goals, with Rachel Wilson also finding the net. Each of Allie Denton’s nine saves proved important as Maddie Taylor paced the Bucs with four goals and one assist.
Reality returned a few days later when Chittenango faced Jamesville-DeWitt and lost, 17-5, to the Red Rams, who bolted out to a 9-2 halftime lead and cruised from there.
Ashley Young accounted for most of the Bears’ production thanks to a three-goal hat trick. Wilson and Maddie Flack each added a goal as Zimmer and Brooke VanGorden earned assists and Denton made eight saves. For J-D, Riley Burns, Lizzie O’Brien and Alyssa Phillips each had three goals.
Yet Chittenango absorbed this blow and, on Saturday afternoon, completed a 2-1 week with a 16-11 victory over Whitesboro, one where the Bears fought its way to an 8-5 halftime lead and answered every time the Warriors tried to get closer.
Four different players earned hat tricks, led by Young, who amassed six goals one assist. Wilson, Billington and Zimmer each scored three times, with Wilson getting two assists and Billington and Zimmer one assist apiece. VanGorden had the other goal.
Trying to build on that 2-4 mark, the Bears would meet East Syracuse Minoa Wednesday and Cortland on Friday night.
