CENTRAL NEW YORK – Is the Fayetteville-Manlius girls lacrosse team reclaiming the championship form it had before the COVID-19 pandemic halted everything?
The Hornets sure seemed to make an emphatic statement in last Tuesday’s game against reigning sectional Class D champion Skaneateles, controlling matters from start to finish and beating the Lakers 14-8.
Few teams are ever able to win the battle of draws or ground balls against Skaneateles, but F-M did so, getting seven draws from Ava Angello and four draws each won by Elrose Hanlon and Julianna Cogliandro.
Angello also paced the attack, her five goals part of a Hornets offense where Cogliandro, along with her three assists, joined Melanie Steigerwald, Emily Noel and Anne Leonard with two goals apiece. Steigerwald also had two assists, with Grace Reyna getting one goal and one assist.
Impressive as this was, F-M kept it up Thursday at Holland Stadium, where in a rematch of last year’s sectional Class B title game it ended Auburn’s 18-game win streak with a 13-7 victory.
What was a 1-1 tie changed when Angello, who was winning draw controls, hit on back-to-back goals, and the Hornets never trailed again.
Adding a third and fourth tally, Angello pushed F-M to an 8-2 edge late in the half, giving it room to absorb a series of Auburn comeback attempts and answer them.
Sarah Porter stepped up with three goals and one assist. Cogliandro and Grace Reyna each converted twice, with Steigerwald getting one goal and one assist. Noel had three assists as Angelo and Reyna both picked up five ground balls and Talila Cavaline earned five saves.
All of this made Saturday’s 18-2 loss to Section V power Pittsford a bit easier to take. Only Angello and Coglinadro were able to earn goals as Steigerwald picked up an assist.
Back on Wednesday, it was Jamesville-DeWitt taking the field for the first time under new head coach Meghan Murphy as it also looked to defend a sectional championship in Class C.
The Red Rams were able to defeat Central Square 14-7 in its season opener, and Kate Wilcox had much to do with it, the J-D forward’s six goals nearly matching the entire output of the Redhawks.
Macy Durkin had one goal and one assist, while Kate Barclay converted twice. Single goals went to Brooke Bort, Merris Kessler, Sydney Balotin and Macy Durkin, who also earned an assist.
Christian Brothers Academy never recovered from a rough start in last Tuesday’s 14-5 loss to West Genesee, the Wildcats netting the game’s first five goals before the Brothers could get on the board.
Gracie Britton put in four of CBA’s five tallies, the other going to Mia Kirch. Maeve Mackenzie, Shanti Sapkota and Lilah Kirch had one assist apiece. Reis Pagan (three goals) and Rylee Gonzalez (two goals, two assists) led a well-balanced WG attack.
Now at 0-2, CBA reached the win column a day later, routing Mexico 20-3 as Britton had six goals and one assist, with Sophia Bonacci getting three goals and four assists. Lilah Kirch, Mia Kirch and Maeve Mackenzie got two goals apiece, with Allie Quinn, Emily Jones, Sydney Vaughn, Shanti Sapkota and Katie Uryniak netting single goals.
But when CBA had its turn against Skaneatleles on Friday, it lost 13-7, Britton and Mackenzie the only ones to score twice as it could not recover from a 7-2 halftime deficit. Julia O’Connor led the Lakers with five goals and two assists.
East Syracuse Minoa nearly broke into the win column last Tuesday against Whitesboro, but had to absorb an 11-10 defeat to the Warriors.
Anna Paduano, with a three-goal hat trick, led a balanced Spartans attack. Sara Stark, Mary Grace Godleski and Rylyn Commisso had two goals apiece, with Sophia Ferns and Leah Rehm each finding the net, too. Arianna Reed recorded 19 saves as Maria Stuhlman led Whitesboro with five goals and one assist.
