CENTRAL NEW YORK – Three years have passed since the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team last had an opportunity to earn a state Class D championship.
Wanting to go all the way, especially for the players who never got a chance in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, the Lakers set out on its post-season quest in the Section III playoffs.
With the no. 2 seed in Class D, Skaneateles meets no. 7 seed General Brown in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, as every one of the quarterfinals features a local side.
Westhill has the no. 3 seed, hosting no. 6 seed Clinton, while Marcellus earned the no. 4 seed and faces no. 5 seed Cazenovia as Jordan-Elbridge, from the no. 8 seed, tries and topples top seed South Jefferson.
Skaneateles played twice early last week, starting with a 16-1 romp over Cazenovia, yet another instance of an impressive performance against a quality opponent.
Cazenovia had won five of six games leading up to this, yet found itself trailing 10-0 at halftime and only getting on the board in the second half when Madison DeAngelis converted.
Kathryn Morrissey, Ava Logan and Anasofia Cirincione each netted three goals. Julia O’Connor had a goal and three assists, with Tatum Ryan adding one goal and two assists. Emily Huttar, Rory Comer, Kelsey Rutledge and Rachel Hackler also converted.
Impressive as everything the Lakers had done in recent weeks, it still was quite human, as a 7-2 defeat to Canandaigua 24 hours after the Cazenovia rout showed.
First-half goals by O’Connor and Bella Brogan were all Skaneateles could manage. Perhaps playing a fourth game in six days took a toll on the Lakers, who were shut out the rest of the way as Canandaigua went on a closing 4-0 run.
Westhill played that same night, against Christian Brothers Academy, and were tied, 4-4, at halftime before it took over on both sides in the second half and beat the Brothers 11-6.
Adelaide Lowery scored three times, adding a pair of assists. Grace Winkler and Gianna Zerillo both got two goals, with Bella Sampo and Rosemary Mahoney each earning a goal and two assists. Kara Rosenberger had one goal and one assists as each of Fran Argentieri’s nine saves proved important.
Marcellus closed its regular season against Homer, and had one of its most impressive all-around performances of the season in a 16-6 romp over the Trojans.
Cece Powell led the Mustangs with four goals and four assists. Anna Spitzer also scored four times as Quinn Burnett got three goals and one assist. Claire Card converted twice, with single goals going to Annalilse Bird and Lauren Weidner.
J-E earned its fourth win of the season last Monday, topping Tully/Fabius-Pompey 11-8 as Gabrielle Gunnip put in six goals, more than half the Eagles’ output. Riley Crawford had two goals and one assist, with single goals going to Gabby Smart, Lily Humphries and Valerie Reith.
Then the Eagles made it back-to-back wins last Tuesday by edging Mexico 12-11. Gunnip carried the attack with five goals and three assists as Crawofd and Kyra Dominick both converted twice. Smart had a goal and two assists and the other goal went to Brooke Tanner.
