Having done so much to bring her Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team to the point where it could win Tuesday night’s key early-season battle with Baldwinsville at Bragman Stadium, it was fitting that Fran Tortora finished it off.
By both claiming the overtime face-off and then finding the net 50 seconds later, Tortora pushed the Northstars past the Bees 11-10 for its third win over a high-profile opponent in less than a week.
Having knocked off West Genesee 5-4 on May 6 and South Jefferson 11-9 on May 8 (avenging its only defeat so far in 2021), C-NS now turned its attention to a B’ville side that had won four of its first five games.
They went back and forth in the first half, the Northstars four times going out in front only to have the Bees answer each time, leaving the two sides even at 4-4 going to the break.
Tortora pushed C-NS back in front with three of her six assists, the passes going to the sister tandem of Molly and Brooke Molchanoff, who accounted for most of the Northstars’ goals in regulation – Molly with five goals, Brooke with two.
When Jenna Pickard converted with 7:01 to play, C-NS led 10-7, its largest advantage of the night, but B’ville again fought back, led as it was most of the night by senior Emma Gebhardt.
Already with five goals, Gebhardt converted again with 5:11 left after Tiffany Natoli cut it to 10-8. Then, after the Bees forced a turnover when C-NS tried to run out the clock, Gebhardt drew the defense to her and then passed to Mia Kuzdzal, who tied it with 33.3 seconds to play in regulation.
But it was Tortora winning the crucial OT draw over B’ville’s Hannah Mimas. Then she got the ball in back of the net and, with the Bees’ defenders expecting her to pass to a cutting teammate, instead took it herself and flung it past Samantha Tanguay for the game-winner.
All game long, C-NS goalie Nicole Mirra stood out, finishing with 10 saves with help from defenders Allison Cole, Gia DiToma, Molly McGrath and Samantha Klein.
Not playing again until Saturday, the Northstars got a chance to recuperate, then had to fight off a serious challenge from Fayetteville-Manlius as it won again by an 11-10 margin.
Here, Tortora had three goals and one assist, matching Molly Malchanoff. Brooke Malchanoff converted twice and single goals went to Ella Pauline, Victoria Iannotti, Angela Beardsley and Payton Baker. Nicole O’Neil took her turn in goal and made nine saves, each of them crucial.
Liverpool, meanwhile, was 0-5 going into the week and looking for any kind of victory to turn things around – which it finally got when it knocked off Westhill 12-7 last Monday night at LHS Stadium.
This Warriors clash turned on Liverpool’s ability to claim draws and put on relentless pressure, which led to Jenna Irwin scoring four times and Mia Berthoff getting a three-goal hat trick.
Kendra Hall and Caroline Stevens each scored twice, Hall adding two assists as Caitlyn Guifoil got a single goal. Westhill got three goals from Gianna Zerillo and two goals apiece from Rosemary Mahoney and Katy McPeak.
Then the Warriors almost made it back-to-back wins in a wild affair with Fayetteville-Manlius 24 hours later, but again Liverpool was on the wrong side of a close decision, falling 16-15 to the Hornets.
Nothing was wrong with the Warriors’ attack, with Hall and Irwin both scoring four times and Hall getting two assists, though it paled next to what F-M’s Ava Angello did as she amassed a career-best 10 goals.
Margaret Tifft and Magdalena Larca both had two goals and one assist as Stevens, Berthoff and Marcy Moore also converted.
On Thursday, Liverpool had its own game against B’ville and played a terrific second half, but only after the Bees raced out to a 9-1 halftime advantage on the way to defeating the Warriors 14-9.
Hall got three goals, with Stevens adding two goals and one assist. Irwin earned a goal and two assists as Tifft, Moore and Michelle Sacco also converted.
Liverpool then beat General Brown 19-9 Saturday night, with four different players earning hat tricks.
Irwin had three goals and two assists, with Hall getting three goals and two assists. Berthoff and Tifft also scored three times as Stevens and Moore both got two goals. Michelle Sacco, Abby Geary and Gianna Carbone had single tallies.
