Of course the Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse team knows that the only time a stop state Class A ranking matters is if it is holding the state championship trophy at SUNY-Cortland in early June.
Still, having that top ranking creates an extra level of excitement for every game, including last Monday night’s visit from state Class C no. 10-ranked Marcellus, who hung around for a long while before the Brothers used a big late surge to prevail 14-6.
Marcellus was still in a jovial mood thanks to breaking its five-year, eight-game skid against Skaneateles in an 8-7 overtime thriller on April 28. And at least in the early stages, Marcellus had intentions of shocking CBA, too, slowing down the game’s tempo and only trailing, 3-2, before a pair of turnovers led to back-to-back goals by Maddie Cook and Olivia Penoyer 32 seconds apart late in the first half.
Despite this, Marcellus was still within two, 6-4, deep into the second half before a turnover led to Sam McKenna’s goal with 15:24 left. Following that, the Brothers started to dominate draws and didn’t let up until it had a 14-5 lead in the waning minutes.
Penoyer paced CBA with five goals and two assists, with McKenna and Emily Ehle each getting three goals and three assists, displaying an attack far more concentrated than what the Brothers had shown through the early part of the season.
Rachel Vercillo and Grace Hulslander each notched two assists as single goals went to Cook, Tessa Queri and Amanda Fess. Rachel Ziemba added an assist as CBA goalie Sloane Nicoletti-Watson continued to dazzle, stopping nine of the 14 Marcellus shots she faced.
CBA went from there to routing Penfield (Section V) 16-3 on Saturday afternoon, gaining a 10-2 edge by halftime and multiple goals from six different players, led by Hulslander, with three goals and two assists, and Penoyer, who had three goals and one assist.
Jeschke scored twice, adding two assists as Ehle, Fess and Meredith Strott also had two-goal outings. Queri and Vercillo both got one goal and one assist as Strott, Cook and Ziemba also picked up assists.
Jamesville-DeWitt, who had pushed CBA in a 15-7 defeat on April 26, had won three games in a row since, and started the next week by defeating LaFayette 15-8 in a game where steady production helped the Red Rams get away from the stubborn Lancers.
Lizzie O’Brien, with four goals and two assists, again set the pace. Riley Burns, Alyssa Phillips and Lindsay MacLachlan each scored twice as Ali Durkin got a goal and assists. Ana Dieroff, Katie Lutz, Chloe Lowengurth and Jillian Risavi also netted goals as Meg Prosak recorded 10 saves.
Far more impressive was the way the state Class B no. 23-ranked Red Rams rallied to beat state Class C no. 14-ranked Cazenovia 8-6 two days later.
Stymied most of the first half, J-D trailed the Lakers 4-2 at halftime. Yet the pressure J-D put on them eventually took a toll, along with the fact that the Lakers didn’t diversity its attack.
Of Cazenovia’s six goals, five of them were scored by Chloe Willard, a feat nearly matching her older brother’s efforts in the boys game against J-D on that same turf a day earlier. But J-D held the rest of the team to just one goal, by Lucy Connor.
By contrast, J-D mostly relied on a quartet of players to surge out in front. Rivasi had three goals, with Phillips and Lutz each scoring twice and O’Brien getting one goal and one assist. Meg Prosak was well-protected in the net, only having to make five saves, four less than Cazenovia counterpart Sophie Goris.
East Syracuse Minoa lost, 23-9, to Marcellus on Friday night, unable to recover from a first half where the Mustangs put in 15 goals, which produced a running clock for the second half.
Brigid McGinley still scored four times, with Olivia McEachron adding two goals and three assists. Janee DeLuca also scored twice as Tate Kohlbrenner got one goal and one assist. Cara Miller made 11 saves, but Marcellus teammates Grace Coon and Lily Powell both netted five goals, with Maddie Conklin adding four goals and two assists.
