ONONDAGA COUNTY – This time around, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team did not have any late-game magic.
Largely, it was because Baldwinsville drained all the suspense out of last Tuesday’s showdown at Bragman Stadium with a scoring blitz late in the first half that left the Northstars on the wrong end of a 12-5 defeat.
This was the first time these two teams had met since last June’s Section III Class A final, when C-NS prevailed 12-11 on Mackenzie Prentice’s goal in the second overtime.
Here, Brooke Malchanoff scored in the game’s opening minute for the Northstars – but for the next 30-plus minutes, B’ville’s defense kept C-NS off the board, jumping in front of passes and forcing turnovers.
The Bees’ own attack was kept quiet early, too, but with the score tied 1-1, it all changed when, with 9:47 left in the first half, Mia Pozzi scored the tie-breaking goal. Thirty seconds later, Brianna Peters made it 3-1, and Carlie Desimone followed with a goal of her own.
Within a 66-second span late in the half, Desimone scored twice and Grace Hollenbeck converted, too. And when Peters returned to score just 9.2 seconds before intermission, the Bees had a commanding 8-1 advantage.
Even with Fran Tortora netting three goals in the second half, C-NS could not recover. Desimone and Peters finished with four goals apiece, while Pozzi and Hollenbeck each scored twice. Goalie Samantha Tanguay made five saves as Sara Hunter and Emma Hollenbeck earned assists.
Tough as this was, Thursday’s 11-10 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius provided its own disappointment in that the Northstars had a shot to force overtime, only to get stopped by Hornets goalie Hannah Williamson.
Tori Iannotti, shut out against B’ville, had three goals on this night. Tortora had two goals and two assists, with Malchanoff adding two goals and one assist. Prentice, Shea Firth and Gabby Pauline had single goals.
Before all this, Liverpool traveled to F-M and it also proved a classic, the two sides trading surges all night as the Warriors fell just short in a 15-14 defeat.
What made it a bit more frustrating was how well Liverpool played early, charging late in the first half to lead 9-5 at the break as Maggie Tifft had a three-goal hat trick, helped by two goals apiece from Mia Berthoff and Gianna Carbone.
The Warriors stayed out in front early in the second half, too, but saw its 13-10 advantage disappear as F-M fought back, tied it 14-14, and hen netted the game-winner late in regulation.
Tifft finished with five goals, with Berthoff earning four goals. Abby Geary matched Carbone in scoring twice as Lana Alampi also had a goal. Ava Angello (seven goals) and Melanie Steigerwald (two goals, seven assists) led the Hornets.
Trying to recover Thursday against Westhill, Liverpool fell behind 8-3 by halftime and could not overcome it the late going, falling 13-9 to that other group of Warriors.
Carbone and Tifft both finished with three goals and one assist as single goals went to Michelle Sacco and Lana Alampi. Westhill was led by Grace Winkler’s five goals and Kara Rosenberger’s three goals.
In Saturday’s 18-9 win over Section II’s Colonie, the Warriors saw Tifft amass six goals and one assist, with Berthoff adding four goals and one assist. Geary had two goals and two assists as Alampi also scored twice.
C-NS got its own win over Christian Brothers Academy 17-8 on Saturday, with Putman scoring four times. Tortora had three goals and three assists as Malchanoff got three goals and one assist. Samantha Klein got a goal and two assists as Sophia Nesci had one goal and one assist.
