An April 15 defeat to Long Island powerhouse Mount Sinai humbled the Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse team, but was supposed to prove a spur toward better performances in the week that followed.
Instead, the Brothers stumbled again in last Saturday’s trip to West Genesee, where it allowed the hungry Wildcats to shake off its own recent struggles and beat them by a score of 9-5.
WG was in a rare slump, having lost back-to-back games to Cicero-North Syracuse and Baldiwnsville (in overtime). and when Grace Hulslander took the opening draw and went on to score just 41 seconds into the game, the Wildcats looked to be in trouble again.
What turned it around was a determined WG defense that played a close-up, physical style that disrupted CBA’s rhythm and shut them out for a stretch of more than 20 minutes. They were helped by goalie Madison Fox, who recorded seven saves overall.
This gave the Wildcats what it needed – namely, possession time to establish a patient tempo of its own. Goals by Mackenzie Meager and Halen Saroney put WG ahead for good.
Meager, helped by Emily Stratton, started to dominate in the draw circle, too, leading to six consecutive goals. Sam Detor assisted on three of them, and after Anna Ziemba broke CBA’s drought, Mackenzie Winn answered with a goal just 6.1 seconds before halftime.
Up 7-2 at the break, WG slowed things down further in the second half, but long possessions did not lead to any goals, and that strategy threatened to backfire when the Brothers closed within two, 7-5, with more than seven minutes to play, Ziemba working her total to three goals to lead both sides.
One more time, though, the Wildcats’ defense made a stand, and Winn assisted on two clinching goals – one by Saroney, the other by Stratton.
Back on Tuesday, CBA scored 17 first-half goals against Bishop Grimes/Bishop Ludden/Onondaga, moving on to a 21-6 victory as Olivia Penoyer had five goals, with Hulslander adding four goals and two assists and Gracie Britton getting three goals.
Claire Jeschke scored twice, adding four assists, while Ziemba had two goals and two assists. Tate Kohlbrenner also scored twice, with Gia Anthony, Grace Glowaki and Riley Taylor also finding the net.
East Syracuse Minoa broke out of its early-season slump in last Tuesday’s 12-6 win over Syracuse City, the Spartans doing most of the damage early as it bolted out to an 8-3 lead by halftime.
Julianna Barton netted four goals, with Emma Eckl scoring twice. Emma Biel, Rileigh White, Sophia Orlando and Kelly Thomas each had one goal and one assist as Katherine Andrus and Bella Talarico earned goals, too. Taylor Filmer contributed an assist.
Back home Thursday to face Oswego, ESM ignored the snow and made it back-to-back victories, putting away the Buccaneers 17-11 as again it started quickly, building a 10-4 first-half margin that allowed it to coast the rest of the way.
Nine different Spartans would record at least one goal, led by White, who augmented her three-goal hat trick with four assists as Talarico scored four times.
Barton had two goals and two assists, with Orlando and Biel also scoring twice. Single tallies went to Thomas, Andrus, Emma Eckl and Taylor Filmer, with Orlando adding an assist.
