Absent a Section III Class A championship for the last 18 years, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team, in order to end that drought, had to go through the most difficult path possible – and got half the task accomplished.
First, the Northstars were paired against defending champion West Genesee in the May 26 semifinal at Chittenango. With a tremendous all-around effort, C-NS knocked off the Wildcats, setting up a chance at the title – against undefeated, state no. 1-ranked Christian Brothers Academy.
Remembering that CBA had knocked them out of the sectional semifinals a year ago, the Northstars went into the Carrier Dome Tuesday bent on another surprise – but instead found itself unable to get enough possession time, the ultimate culprit in an 11-5 defeat to the Brothers.
So much of this game, like so many other girls lacrosse games, turned on who won control of the draws. Try as it could, C-NS didn’t earn enough of them and, as a result, found itself in a defensive mode for much of the contest.
C-NS, no. 10 in the state Class A rankings, counted on its experience core of players (seven starters are seniors) to produce the same kind of strong all-around effort that had worked against West Genesee in the previous round.
Immediately, though, the Brothers made a statement with a point-blank save by goalie Sloane Nicoletti-Watson on the Northstars’ opening possession.
It would take more than 13 minutes before C-NS got on the board when Bryar Cummings scored. Largely, that owed to the Brothers controlling the ball through winning seven of eight draws in the first half.
For the game, the Brothers claimed 14 of 18 draws. Three different players – Ehle, Grace Hulslander and Olivia Penoyer – took the draws in the center circle, but it was the likes of Claire Jeschke, Tessa Queri and Amanda Fess winning the battles for the ground balls that allowed CBA to go on the attack.
This, in turn, frustrated C-NS, who saw Samantha Tortora and Megan Tryniski pick up yellow cards during the first half. Though it didn’t lead to many goals, CBA did enough, thanks to tallies by Jeschke, Queri and Olivia Penoyer, to take a 3-1 lead.
Late in the half, the Brothers sought to get away. Back-to-back goals by Penoyer and Hulslander doubled the margin, and Nicoletti-Watson returned to stop a free-position shot by Tortora in the waning seconds, keeping it 5-1 in CBA’s favor at the break.
In some ways, only a tremendous defensive effort from goalie Lauren Gilbert, along with back-line players Jenna Lippert, Lexxi Knoblock and Mary Kate Bonanni, prevented a bigger margin, but the attacks from CBA kept coming.
It took just four minutes in the second half for Jeschke, off feeds from Penoyer and Ehle, to convert twice and make it 7-1, C-NS seeing its scoring drought last more than 16 minutes before Tortora broke it.
For most of the game, CBA’s defense kept the Northstars’ senior All-American, Meghan Duffy, off the board. But then Duffy scored a goal midway through the second half and assisted on sister Brenna Duffy’s tally to cut the Brothers’ lead to four, and when Cummings hit on a second goal with 9:06 to play, the Brothers’ margin was down to three, 8-5, forcing a time-out.
Again, CBA counted on getting the draws, which it did, twice more, leading to Penoyer’s third goal with 6:21 left and Queri converting two minutes later, all but putting the game – and the sectional title – away. Meredith Strott added a goal in the final minute.
C-NS now will have to try and replace this terrific group of seniors, which includes Cummings, Tortora, Knoblock, Lippert, Bonanni, Meghan Duffy and Mallory Eymer. It will take the likes of Gilbert, Brenna Duffy and Jessica Meneilly to maintain the Northstars’ status as a title contender in 2017.
