Twice in a span of four days, the Jordan-Elbridge girls lacrosse team would come up against major tests that would measure just where it stood relative to other top Section III Class D contenders.
Having lost 20-14 to Marcellus on April 8, the Eagles would host Skaneateles last Tuesday afternoon and would get its attack going – but only after the Lakers established an early cushion that it did not surrender as it handed J-E a 16-9 defeat.
The key to the game was the way the first half unfolded. Try as it could, the Eagles could not get its potent attack rolling in the face of a strong Skaneateles defense, held to two goals before intermission.
When the pace picked up in the second half, it was Antonia Malvaso, who scored four times, leading the way as Alexis Fietta and Miranda Malvaso got two goals apiece. Marissa Malvaso added one goal and one assist as Katie Goodrich and Allison Jennings earned assists.
Yet Skaneateles still outscored J-E 10-7 after the break, continuing to flourish even without Kyla Sears in the lineup. Olivia Navaroli led the Lakers with five goals and one assist as Abby Kuhns and Mae McGlynn each scored three times, with Riley Brogan gaining two goals and two assists.
A night earlier, Westhill put together a thrilling late comeback in its trip to Cazenovia, waiting until the last three minutes to make the decisive move in an 11-10 victory over that other group of Lakers.
It would go back and forth from the outset, neither side able to make any kind of sustained run during a first half that ended on even terms, 4-4. They remained tight in the early portion of the second half, and it was 7-7 when Megan Henderson’s goal with 11:35 left pushed the Lakers in front.
Keara Dwyer added a goal and, with 4:12 to play, Chloe Willard took advantage of a strong Cazenovia clear and pushed home a goal that gave the Lakers a 10-8 edge. One more draw, or stop, was needed to put things away.
Instead, it was Westhill stepping up, netting three straight goals down the stretch to retake the lead, and then hanging on when Willard, who had four goals on the night, saw her last-second tying shot stopped by Warriors goalie Morgan Elmer.
Haileigh Farrell, Caroline Miller and Sam VanBuren each netted three-goal hat tricks and keyed the comeback. Erin McMullen and Maura McAnaney had the other goals, while Rebecca Gilhooley earned an assist.
For Cazenovia, Dwyer and Molly Brown both scored twice to aid Willard, with Grace Rajkowski also earning a goal. Lucy Connor was held to one assist as Laura Lorraine recorded 10 saves, one more than Elmer.
Westhill nearly got another big win on Thursday, against Cicero-North Syracuse, seeing a furious late comeback fall just short in an 8-7 defeat to the Northstars.
Despite having a much smaller roster, Westhill controlled the game’s pace and only trailed, 4-3, at halftime. It remained in close proximity until, in the final minutes, C-NS appeared to get clear with back-to-back goals that created an 8-4 margin.
Showing its full determination, Westhill started winning draws and, in the last two minutes of regulation, broke out for three goals, cutting the margin to one. It took the Northstars winning a last-minute draw in order for it to run out the remaining clock.
Miller finished with three goals, while Farrell and Abby Stack earning two goals apiece. For C-NS, Jessica Meneilly did most of the damage, scoring five times, the passes often coming from Brenna Duffy, who had five assists.
Yet another big game against yet another prime opponent, defending state Class A champion CBA, was on tap Saturday afternoon, and Westhill held up quite well, even if it lost to the Brothers 12-5.
CBA had beaten its first two opponents (East Syracuse Minoa and Homer) by similar 26-0 margins, so the Warriors were glad to slow things down whenever it had the ball, even if it trailed, 6-2, by halftime and drew no closer in the late stages.
Sam VanBuren was the only Warriors player to score twice, single goals going to Miler, MacCaull and Gilhooley as Farrell and McMullen got assists. Tessa Queri and Meredith Strott paced CBA with three goals apiece as Rachel Ziemba earned four assists to go with her pair of goals.
Back on Thursday, J-E rolled past Onondaga 17-6, building most of the margin through an 11-3 first-half push and getting near-perfect scoring balance throughout the game.
Seven different players – Fietta, Jennings, Alexis Braun, Alexandria Smart and each of the Malvaso sisters – got two goals apiece, Marissa Malvaso adding three assists as Fietta and Smart got two assists apiece. Goodrich added one goal and two assists as Emily Somes and Molly Derby also scored. Renee Eggleston earned an assist.
