ONONDAGA COUNTY – Despite all the championship glory they have recently attained, when the Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy girls lacrosse teams met last Saturday on the Hornets’ home turf, they both needed a spark.
Having returned from an absence of nearly 23 months, F-M was without most of the players which had helped them advance all the way to the 2019 state Class A championship game.
CBA, a state champion as recently as 2018, had undergone its own profound change, too, having seen long-time coach Doug Sedgwick step down, replaced by assistant Pat Britton in August 2019.
The Brothers were 1-1 going to F-M, but the Hornets had lost its first two games – and perhaps that urgency translated into a winning effort as it would defeat CBA 16-9.
Ava Angello, scoring five goals, paced the Hornets, with Victoria Horton netting three goals. Halle Daino, Julianna Cogliandro and Lillian Coleman each found the net twice as single goals went to Emily Noel and Melanie Steigerwald.
In defeat, CBA got four goals from Bella Roberson, with Gracie Britton converting twice. Amelia Bonaccia and Bella DeRegis contributed single tallies.
Four days earlier, the season had started, with CBA traveling to Westhill and getting overwhelmed in the first half of a 16-11 defeat to the Warriors.
Led by Katy McPeak (six goals) and Gianna Zerrillo (four goals, three assists), Westhill bolted out to a 14-4 halftime lead, more than the Brothers could overcome despite some late improvement.
Gracie Britton paced CBA, scoring four times. Roberson added three goals as DeRegis and Hannah Goldberg got two goals apiece.
Against Cazenovia two nights later, the Brothers turned this around in a big way, routing the Lakers 21-3 with an attack where 10 different players would find the net by the time it was over.
Britton led with four goals and two assists, with Roberson and Bonacci each scoring three times. Goldberg, DeRegis, Maeve Mackenzie and Lilah Kerch had two goals apiece as Bella Cannizzo and Talia Cannizzo each had one goal and one assist.
F-M, meanwhile, started out at West Genesee last Tuesday by not getting a goal in the first half and unable to overcome that drought in a 12-3 loss to the Wildcats,
Angello scored twice in the second half, with Cogliandro getting the other goal, plus an assist as Halle Daino also had an assist. Luna Oley made eight saves as Olivia Blanding led WG with three goals and one assist.
In its home opener against Cicero-North Syracuse two nights later, the Hornets’ attack sprung to life, yet it still wasn’t enough as it fell to the Northstars 18-12.
Cogliandro scored four times, with Angello and Coleman each netting three goals. Daino and Juila Tedeschi had one goal apiece as Horton and Ellrose Hanlon got assists.
But six different C-NS players finished with multiple goals, led by Frankie Tortora, who piled up five goals and three assists as Brooke Malchanoff added four goals and one assist.
While all this was going on, Jamesville-DeWitt, still the reigning sectional Class C champions, had a difficult opener of its own last Thursday against Baldwinsville, the defending sectional Class B champions.
Despite a fine effort, the Red Rams lost, 15-9, to the Bees, who overcame three-goal hat tricks from J-D teammates Everly Kessler and Kailey McKenna as Kessler added a pair of assists.
Sydney Balotin had one goal and one assist, with Kate Wilcox and Lindsey Hildreth also earning goals. Skyler Constantino earned seven saves as Tiffany Natoli, with five assists and two goals, led B’ville’s attack, Olivia Muscolino adding three goals and one assist.
East Syracuse Minoa had an even rougher start on Saturday, falling 14-1 to Westhill. Only Emma Biel’s first-half goal prevented a shutout for the Spartans as Grace Winkler paced the Warriors with four goals.
