As defending Section III champions, the girls lacrosse teams at Jamesville-DeWitt and Christian Brothers Academy have plenty of opponents taking aim at them for the 2018 season.
For the Red Rams, who claimed the sectional Class C crown last spring, the changes went beyond those on the roster. Stephanie Rice, a former Skaneateles High School and Hofstra University standout, has taken over as head coach after Dennis Kennedy returned to the Syracuse city program.
J-D would commence Hunt’s first season at the helm by hosting Oswego last Tuesday night, and get goals from 11 different players as it rolled past the Buccaneers 19-2.
Riley Burns paced the attack, scoring four times. Ana Dieroff, Jill Ravasi and Lily Loewenguth each had two goals and one assist, with Gabby Modesti also finding the net twice. Kailey McKenna and Katie Lutz both gained one goal and one assist. Single tallies also went to Ali Durkin, Lindsay MacLachlan and Emily Bobrek.
It warmed up enough on Friday so that CBA did start its season against Tully, playing on home turf at Alibrandi Stadium and running over the Black Knights on the way to a 24-4 victory.
Eager to get on the field, the Brothers netted 17 goals in the first half alone, with Olivia Penoyer piling up five goals and four assists as Gia Anthony found the net six times, with Claire Jeschke adding three goals and four assists.
Grace Hulslander and Grace Britton also had three-goal hat tricks as Tate Kohlbrenner got two goals and one assist. Anna Ziemba added three assists as Amanda Winn and Bella Roberson notched single goals. Mary Reith contributed an assist.
Fayetteville-Manlius had played in Thursday’s chilly temperatures at Victor, but the high-tempo Hornets maintained its pace and tore past the Blue Devils 20-4, netting 13 goals in the first half alone.
Kiera Shanley scored five times and three others – Gemma Addonizio, Amanda Cramer and Katie Shanley – notched four goals apiece. Addonizio added three assists as Cramer and Shanley both earned two assists. Annie Steigerwald contributed two goals and one assist, with Maddie Noel and Sarah Buck also finding the net.
F-M then made it three wins in a row Saturday, handling Ithaca 17-8. For a half, the Little Red kept it close, only trailing 6-4 at intermission before the Hornets broke out again.
Between them, the Shanley sisters had nine goals – Kiera five, Katie four – and each got two assists. Cramer chimed in with three goals and four assists as Noel and Addonizio both scored twice. Steigerwald had a goal and three assists, with Laura Bonomo also getting an assist.
East Syracuse Minoa, expected to contend for sectional Class B honors, also opened at home last Tuesday, facing Central Square, and pulled out a 7-5 decision over the Redhawks.
Cold in the first half, the Spartans trailed 3-2 before its offense started to find a rhythm in the second half, taking the lead for good as Kelly Thomas gained a three-goal hat trick.
Taylor Filmer, with a goal and two assists, helped out as Rileigh White had one goal and one assist. Bella Talarico and Sophia Orlando had the other goals as Cara Miller and Anna James combined to make 10 saves.
At Cortland two nights later, ESM ignored the frigid conditions and beat the Purple Tigers 13-7, with White nearly matching Cortland by herself by netting six goals, plus an assist.
Julianna Barton also broke out, putting in three goals as Emma Biel scored twice. Talarico and Melissa Drogo had one goal apiece as Thomas joined Talarico in the assist column.
Then J-D returned on Saturday for its own game against Central Square and handled the Redhawks 15-1. Dieroff scored five times, with MacLachlan and Lutz each getting three goals. Burns had two goals and one assist as Loewenguth and Bobrek also scored.
ESM made it three wins in five days on Saturday by topping its Spartan namesakes from New Hartford in an 11-5 decision, pulling off a first-half shutout as it established a 6-0 advantage.
Barton, with three goals and one assist, was part of a well-balanced attack where White had two goals and three assists and Orlando got two goals and two assists. Filmer also scored twice as Talarico had one goal and one assist. Biel earned the other goal.
