Claiming a Section III Class C championship was not new for the Jamesville-DeWitt girls lacrosse team, but having to beat its neighbors from East Syracuse Minoa to get that prize was different.
But regardless of what changed, or who it was facing, the Red Rams achieved the same outcome, overcoming a slow start to pull away and beat the Spartans 14-6 Tuesday night at SUNY-Cortland and earn a third consecutive sectional title.
Ana Dieroff, who finished with five goals and two assists, proved J-D’s catalyst as it outlasted an ESM side determined to turn things around after getting outscored a combined 34-13 by the Rams in their two April meetings.
Eventually, the Spartans would rue the early chances it squandered, several shots turned away as the game remained scoreless until Dieroff found the net 6:22 into the first half.
Kelly Thomas tied it a minute later, and for a while both sides asserted itself on defense, more than 10 minutes passing before Dieroff scored a second time and assisted on Jordan Archer’s goal.
What happened at the end of the first half proved decisive. Emma Biel had cut J-D’s lead to 3-2, and a one-goal margin at the break would serve as a victory of sorts for ESM and, perhaps, put a bit of pressure on the Rams.
Instead, Dieroff netted her third goal, and then Everly Kessler assisted on Lindsay MacLachlan’s tally just as the horn sounded. Then, 20 seconds into the second half, Kailey McKenna made it 6-2 before MacLachlan scored a second time.
Just like that, it was 7-2, and after Julianna Barton’s goal, the Rams made another 5-0 run to put the game away.
Lily Loewenguth stepped up late, all three of her goals coming in the second half as Chloe Loewenguth and Riley LaTray also had goals. Rileigh White led ESM with a goal and two assists, with Sophia Orlando and Katherine Andrus adding late goal for the Spartans.
The Class B sectional final followed and, once again,Fayetteville-Manlius found itself playing for a championship two long weeks after it had last seen game action.
In 2018, the Hornets had to sweat out a tense 13-12 title-game victory over Auburn, not decided until the final seconds.
Now, those teams met again with the same stakes, and it wasn’t as stressful. F-M turned around from a slow start on both ends and pulled away to handle Auburn 16-8, the difference a stretch bridging the first and second half when the Hornets recorded eight unanswered goals.
At first, the problem F-M faced was not related to rust from the 14-day layoff, for the energy level was quite good. It was that the Hornets could not win any draws.
Auburn’s Sydney Alberici claimed the first nine draws of the night. With all of that extra possession time, the Maroons built a 5-2 lead, and still were in front despite Katie Shanley’s goal midway through the first half.
Then, in a span of less than three minutes, F-M decided the outcome.
Gemma Addonizio scored to make it 5-4, and Katie Shanley tied it before Kiera Shanley, 20 seconds later, netted the goal that put the Hornets in front for good.
Not content with that, Addonizio and Katie Shanley scored again 13 seconds apart to complete that spurt, and though Auburn settled down for a bit, Katie Shanley returned for two more goals in the last minute of the half and the first minute of the second half.
Now trailing 10-5, Auburn never got closer than four goals again, as Katie Shanley finished with five goals and three assists, Kiera Shanley scoring four times as Addonizio and Annie Steigerwald had three goals apiece. Steigerwald added two assists as her sister, Kaylee, got one goal and one assist.
