Amid the shifting tides and expansion to four statewide classifications, one thread holds the Jordan-Elbridge and Westhill girls lacrosse teams together – namely, the opportunity at going after a long-elusive championship.

Both sides started on that quest last Tuesday night in wildly varying manners. J-E went to Homer and jumped all over the Trojans in a 19-5 romp, while Westhill, hosting South Jefferson, needed to go to the wire to edge the Spartans 7-6.

J-E, coached by Doug Mead, has plenty of returning talent from 2016, including the Malvaso sisters. Together, they would help the Eagles smother Homer, steadily building a 9-4 halftime lead and then continuing to produce at will against the Trojans while the defense allowed just one goal the rest of the way.

Marissa Malvaso led by scoring five times and adding three assists. Close behind her, Antonia Malvaso got four goals and two assists, while Miranda Malvaso put together her own four-goal outing and tacked on a single assist.

They didn’t work alone, though, as Katie Goodrich found the net three times and added a pair of assists. Alexis Braun gained one goal and one assist, with Renee Eggleston earning the other goal.

While that was going on, Westhill, looking to take the next step to the top under head coach Brittany Brigandi, met a South Jefferson side determined to control the game’s tempo – which it did, start to finish.

Yet that also gave the Warriors a chance to display its defense, which held Spartans star Mackenzie Alexander to a single goal, something the rest of the squad could not make up despite three goals and one assist from Molly Hall.

Westhill didn’t dazzle in its attack, but did enough as Erin McMullen and Rebecca Gilhooley each scored twice, Gilhooley adding an assist. Single goals went to Sam VanBuren, Caroline Miller and Kendra MacCaull as Abby Stack earned an assist.

On Thursday, J-E faced General Brown and again proved quite impressive, unleashing its multipronged attack on the Lions from the outset and not letting up until it had secured an 18-6 victory.

Marissa Malvaso went to the forefront with five goals and one assist, with Goodrich getting three goals and three assists. Braun and Alexis Malvaso also had three-goal hat tricks as Allison Jennings scored twice and added an assist. Antonia Malvaso got one goal and three assists as Alexis Fietta had one goal and two assists. Molly Derby also had an assist.

J-E would have a busy week, starting Monday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, continuing Wednesday at Chittenango and concluding Saturday afternoon with a visit from Marcellus.  Westhill, meanwhile, would play only once, against LaFayette on Monday afternoon in a game moved to the Warriors’ home turf due to field conditions.

But while Westhill and J-E have flourished early, Marcellus has faced a bit more difficulty, nearly gaining a gigantic win last Saturday against Class A power Cicero-North Syracuse before falling to the Northstars 11-10.

Much of the game was close as C-NS, fresh off a big road win at Skaneateles two days earlier, battled its way to a 7-5 halftime lead. Never losing touch, Marcellus saw Grace Coon gain five goals and one assist and Colette Rigas add three goals as Abby Vetsch and Lily Locastro added single tallies.

Maddie Conklin got held to two assists, though, and the Northstars held on by having Jessica Meneilly match Coon’s five-goal output and seeing Megan Tryniski (two goals, one assist), Olivia Africa (two goals) and Julia Alberici (three assists) help out.

This was the start of a stretch where Marcellus would play four home games in six days, with Carthage, Onondaga and Fayetteville-Manlius all making visits.