So how does a team follow a perfect run to a state Class A championship?
Try to do it again, of course, but the Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse team knows just how daunting that task is without many of the stars that helped produce that magical 2016 run.
Following a month of pre-season practices and scrimmages, the Brothers finally saw game action last Friday night at Alibrandi Stadium, taking on Homer. And it didn’t matter one bit that the conditions were closer to winter than spring – CBA was ready.
The Brothers blanked the Trojans 26-0, getting to a running clock in a hurry and amassing a 17-0 advantage by halftime. Five different players would earn hat tricks, with Olivia Penoyer and Jillian Henson leading the way as they both scored five times and added a pair of assists.
Rachel Ziemba notched six assists to go with her three goals, with Grace Hulslander getting three goals and three assists. Claire Jeschke contributed three goals and two assists, the same point total as Meredith Strott, who had two goals and three assists.
Erika Mayette also found the net twice as Tessa Queri earned a goal and three assists. Single goals also went to Tate Kohlbrenner and Avery Penoyer.
Jamesville-DeWitt earned another impressive road victory last Wednesday night when it went to Holland Stadium and handled Auburn 15-7. Much of that margin was built in the first half, when the Red Rams raced out to an 11-5 advantage, which allowed it to dictate the tempo the rest of the way.
Eight different players scored goals, with Lindsay MacLachlan scoring four times and adding an assist. Lizzie O’Brien had her second straight three-goal hat trick, while Riley Burns, Ana Dieroff and Katie Lutz had two goals apiece. Single goals went to Emily Bobrek, Gabby Modesti and Bess Murad as Chloe Loewenguth earned an assist.
In its home opener two nights later, J-D faced Central Square and nearly replicated what CBA did to Homer, scoring 12 times without allowing a goal in the first half and cruising from there to defeat the Redhawks 16-4.
Beth Murad’s four assists set the tone as Lutz, Burns and MacLachlan each got three goals, with Lutz adding two assists. O’Brien also had two assists as Dieroff and Loewenguth put up two-goal outings. Bobrek, Riley LaTray and Arysa Lux earned single goals.
Quickly recovering from its March 31 loss to Cortland, East Syracuse Minoa earned its first win of the season last Tuesday night at Oswego, working hard on the defensive side in the second half of an 8-5 victory over the Buccaneers.
The Spartans built its margin in the first half, doubling up Oswego to go up 6-3. Both sides then bogged down in the second half, but that benefited ESM, who held the Bucs to just two goals in those last 25 minutes and got a splendid effort in the net from Cara Miler, who stopped 14 of the 19 shots she faced.
Brigid McGinley helped push ESM in front, scoring four times and adding an assist. Kelly Thomas got two goals and two assists, with Sophia Orlando also getting two assists. Olivia McEachron and Bella Talarico got single goals.
Even with this effort, though, the Spartans were humbled again in Thursday night’s 19-4 loss to Fulton. McEachron scored twice, with Thomas and Rileigh White adding single goals, but the Red Raiders roared out to a 10-1 halftime lead and kept going as Keara Patterson (five goals, two assists) and McKenna Chesbro (four goals, three assists) led the way.
Then ESM lost a narrow 14-13 decision to Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes on Saturday afternoon. Trailing 8-6 at halftime, the Spartans almost caught up as McEachron and McGinley both scored five goals, with McEachron adding two assists as single tallies went to Talarico, Orlando and White. Thomas and Taylor Filmer earned assists.
Ludden-Grimes won it, though, as Molly McInerney had a five-goal outing of her own and Emma Driscoll got three goals and three assists. Mary Fallon and Grace Lambrych got two goals apiece as Emily Monroe and Rhonee Shea Pal also scored. Each of Peyton Hall’s eight saves proved important to the outcome.
