Just when the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team was on the brink of throwing away its quest to reclaim the Section III Class D championship from South Jefferson, it regrouped and produced another landmark moment.
Maggie Newton’s goal with 2.1 seconds left helped the Lakers edge the Sparatns 11-10 Tuesday night at SUNY-Cortland and earned the program’s sixth sectional title in seven years.
What had motivated every single Skaneateles player was the one year, 2018, that didn’t produce a championship, the 12-5 defeat to South Jefferson in the sectional final 12 months ago living long in their memories.
“Our big thing today was revenge,” said Newton. “This is a sweet victory.”
“That (loss to South Jefferson a year ago) left a pit in our stomach,” said senior Olivia Navaroli, who scored four goals, but would make her biggest play of the night far from the net.
That it even went down to the final seconds was a tribute to the Spartans’ resilience after Skaneateles, who trailed through most of the early stages, took the lead early in the second half and then extended that margin to 10-7 when Riley Brogan netted her fourth goal with 3:30 left.
But as head coach Bridget Marquardt put it, “I was mad that we didn’t stall” while protecting that lead, the Lakers turning the ball over and giving South Jefferson a chance to catch up.
Goals by Mia Buckingham with 2:12 left and Cassidy Burnash 36 seconds later trimmed the Skaneateles margin to one, and then, with the Lakers trying to run out the remaining clock, it turned the ball over again.
Spartans goalie Paige Crandall, superb in the net all night, threw a long outlet pass over the head of all the Lakers players and found Natalie Strough, who was fouled. On the ensuing free-position shot, Ionna Christou stopped it (her 10th save of the game), but the ball went right back to Strough, who converted the rebound.
South Jefferson had tied it, 10-10, but 17.6 seconds remained, enough time for the Lakers to carve out a winning play that will live long in the Skaneateles memory.
Olivia Dobrovosky took the draw, and guided it to her right, where Navaroli, who had dominated in the draw circle all season, this time chased down the ground ball.
Navaroli passed it to Grace Dower, who had netted three goals on this night. Quick and fearless, the junior attacker sprinted toward the net, drawing the attention of three South Jefferson defenders.
But just when those defenders converged, Dower passed it to Newton, who had managed to slip to the front of the net almost unnoticed.
“Grace did most of the work,” said Newton. “I was just wide open and had to catch it.”
Newton did so, and calmly fired it past Crandall for the biggest goal of her high school career, one that added to the Lakers’ championship legacy and also demonstrated how poise and talent can be quite a combination.
Marquardt said she never considered using the Lakers’ remaining time-out once Navaroli got possession, trusting that her players knew what to do.
“They were feeling good and playing with confidence,” she said. “I didn’t want to break that up. Everyone stepped up when they had to. We didn’t do that last year.”
This just started a memorable week for Skaneateles, who continued to roll Saturday morning when it defeated Salmon River (Section X) 18-3 in the Class D regional final at Fayetteville-Manlius.
It was 3-0 in the first three minutes, 8-0 before the game was 10 minutes old and 14-2 by halftime, Dower getting eight assists to go with a pair of goals as Newton and Brogan led with three goals apiece.
Navaroli had two goals, as did Ava Logan and Hope Allyn, with single goals going to Gabby Welch, Rory Comer, Makenzie Miller and Kelsey Rutledge.
Now it’s back to SUNY-Cortland, where next Friday at 9 a.m. the Lakers face Bronxville (Section I) in the state Class D semifinal. No doubt, Bronxville remembers how Skaneateles beat them 12-11 in double overtime in the state title game two years ago, and will look to get even with a berth in next Saturday’s state final on the line.
