For the second season in a row, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls lacrosse team’s state championship dream got thwarted by a skilled and determined Long Island opponent.
In 2017, it was Garden City stopping the Hornets in the state title game. This time around, it was Manhasset who came to SUNY-Cortland and got in F-M’s way during Friday’s state semifinal.
The Indians took control in the opening minutes and never gave it back, prevailing 14-8 to earn a trip to the state final against Brighton and, again, leaving the Hornets short of its ultimate destination.
“Our team played and competed hard,” said F-M head coach Kelly Tormey. “Until the end, the girls kept fighting, but Manhasset is a strong team and some times we didn’t execute well on offense.”
With the experience of getting this far one year ago in its bank, F-M got off to just the start it wanted, blanking the Indians in the first six-plus minutes as goalie Mauwa Aombe made key stops in front of defenders Alyssa Caron, Maria Angello and Alexis Kellish.
Meanwhile, the Hornets went up 2-0 on goals by Annie Steigerwald and Gemma Addonizio, but then would get shut out for more than 14 minutes, more than enough time for Manhasset to put up five unanswered goals.
From there, the chase began. F-M would break its drought with a second goal from Steigerwald, only to have the Indians’ star forward, Shea Garcia, answer as the Hornets trailed 6-3 at halftime
Three different times in the second half, the Hornets would move within two. Every time, Manhasset would counter, proving especially tough in the draw circle. F-M sent several different players to change its luck there, but the Indians kept getting extra possessions.
Not sitting on its lead, Manhasset closed with three straight goals as Garcia scored five times to lead them. Steigerwald and Addonizio had three goals apiece, but Kiera Shanley was kept off the board until late in the second half as she and Amanda Cramer only had one goal apiece.
F-M had a 10-0 record, when its top player on the draw, Sydney DeGirolamo, was lost for the season with a knee injury. Though the Hornets went on to repeat as sectional and regional champions, it didn’t come to the state final four at full strength, and Manhasset proved too tough, eventually prevailing 6-4 over Brighton a day later for the title.
DeGirolamo, Cramer, Caron and Maria Angello graduate, but a strong returning cast in 2019 that includes Addonizio, Aombe, Kiera Shanley, Katie Shanley, Maddie Noel, Ava Angello, Annie Steigerwald and Kaylee Steigerwald will fully expect to make another state title push.
