Three area high school girls lacrosse teams are aiming to repeat as Section III champions, with Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius after their third sectional titles in a row and Christian Brothers Academy seeking to win it all again in Class A.
Both F-M and CBA had slight setbacks in the last weekend of the regular season, taking narrow losses to visiting Sacred Heart, from Long Island, who proved why it was no. 3 in the latest state Class C rankings.
F-M played Sacred Heart first and lost a 12-11 decision, the Hornets strong on defense in the first half, yet unable to hold the 6-3 lead it built as the Spartans outscored them 9-5 the rest of the way.
Just three players found the net for the Hornets as Kiera Shanley got five goals, with Katie Shanley and Annie Steigerwald each scoring three times as Annie got two assists and Kaylee Steigerwald a single assist, matching Gemma Adonizio.
A day later, at Alibrandi Stadium, CBA took its turn against Sacred Heart, and lost 8-6 to the Spartans, unable to put together any sustained scoring run as Bella Roberson and Gracie Britton each had two goals and one assist, with Tatumn Kohlbrenner and Gia Anthony each getting one goal and one assist.
Both sides would rebound with impressive wins Tuesday night, especially F-M, who ventured to Skaneateles and took out the state Class D no. 3-ranked Lakers 19-11 to finish its regular season with a 13-3 mark.
Even with a potent attack and plenty of depth, Skaneateles found itself unable to keep pace, F-M steadily building an 8-4 advantage by halftime and then doubling that margin with five different players earning hat tricks.
Kiera and Katie Shanley had matching totals of four goals and two assists, just as Noel, Addonizio and Annie Steigerwald got three goals apiece. Steigerwald also had two assists, with Noel and Tomlin Cicci also getting assists.
Meanwhile, CBA was putting away LaFayette 18-7, relying on its offense to build a comfortable margin early and then holding the Lancers to just one goal in the second half.
Roberson and Anthony led the way, each scoring four times, while Britton and Riley Taylor both earned three goals, Taylor adding two assists. Kohlbrenner had two goals and two assists, with Amanda Winn also getting two assists. Single goals were earned by Grace Glowaki and Abby Hulslander.
Then CBA met Cicero-North Syracuse Wednesday night at Bragman Stadium and, improving to 11-5, handled the Northstars 16-9, doing most of the damage while building a 10-3 halftime advantage.
Roberson and Britton continued to shine, each scoring five times, while Taylor had three goals and one assist. Anthony got two goals and two assists, with Kohlbrenner adding a goal and three assists. Glowaki also had an assist.
Far from all this, Jamesville-DeWitt completed an impressive 15-1 regular season as the state Class C no. 4-ranked Red Rams handled the Oswego Buccaneers 18-8.
After a sluggish start by its own standards, J-D, up 7-4 at halftime, pulled clear in the second half behind four goals apiece from Lindsay MacLachlan, Jordan Archer and Lily Loewenguth, with MacLachlan adding four assists.
Kailey McKenna found the net twice, adding an assist as Emily Bobrek had one goal and two assists. Ana Dieroff, Chloe Loewenguth and Gabby Modesti had one goal apiece, Riley LaTray adding an assist. Skyler Constantino and Abbie Karoglanian combined for 11 saves.
Then every local team found out their playoff assignments, F-M again getting a direct bye into the May 28 sectional Class B title game against whoever wins Thursday’s semifinal between no. 2 seed Auburn and no. 3 seed Central Square.
In Class C, J-D is again the top seed, with ESM the no. 2 seed. Both play quarterfinals at home next Tuesday – the Red Rams against no. 8 seed New Hartford, the Spartans against no. 7 seed Whitesboro.
If both J-D and ESM win, they play their semifinals next Thursday at Alibrandi Stadium, just as CBA meets West Genesee in the Class A sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. at Auburn’s Holland Stadium.
