ONONDAGA COUNTY – Put to the test, girls lacrosse teams from West Genesee and Skaneateles passed through and made it to their respective Section III championship games.
In the case of the Wildcats, it required a late comeback to withstand the challenge of Watertown and prevail 12-11 in Thursday’s sectional Class B semifinal at Christian Brothers Academy’s Alibrandi Stadium.
As the top seed in Class B, WG had a bye straight into the semifinals. By the time it faced Watertown, though, the Wildcats had not played a game in two full weeks.
Maybe that had to do with the Cyclones taking four different leads in the game’s early stages. Each time, WG answered, twice with Julia Miller scoring and also with goals from Courtney Reynolds and Olivia Lockwood before Rylee Gonzalez and Olivia Blanding converted, giving the Wildcats a 6-4 advantage.
Miller’s third goal and Gonzalez’s second made it 8-6 early in the second half, but Watertown battled back, going on a 4-0 run led by ALex Macutek, whose four goals would pace the Cyclones.
Trailing 10-8, WG turned to Ally Major and Molly Doran to score and tie it again, 10-10, before the Cyclones claimed the lead for the sixth time with less than three minutes to play.
Having played in five one-goal games early this season (winning three of them), the Wildcats leaned on that experience and, with Doran and Blanding scoring 42 seconds apart, reclaimed an 11-10 edge.
And when the Cyclones forged the game’s eighth tie at 11-11, WG earned the draw and worked it around until Miller converted with 54.5 seconds left, and the Wildcats were able to hang on.
In next Tuesday’s sectional final at SUNY-Cortland, WG faces Fayetteville-Manlius, the no. 2 seed, who routed defending champion Auburn 18-7 in the other semifinal.
This follows a Class D title game where Skaneateles defends its crown against South Jefferson following a pair of semifinals at Liverpool High School Stadium that started with the no. 2 seed Lakers turning back no. 3 seed Westhill 13-9.
These teams had met less than two weeks earlier, on May 13, and Skaneateles bashed the Warriors, building an 11-0 halftime advantage on the way to a 16-5 victory.
It was far different in the playoff rematch, Westhill holding its own on draws and finding success in its attack throughout the first half, forcing the Lakers to answer – which it did.
Only up 7-5 at intermission, Skaneateles made sure the Warriors didn’t get too close, Kathryn Morrissey leading the way as she scored four times, added an assist and won nine draws.
Julia O’Connor scored twice, adding a pair of assists. Lilly Marquardt and Bella Brogan each got two goals and one assist, with Ava Logan and Anasofia Cirincione each getting one goal and one assist. Rachel Hackler also had a goal.
Westhill, in defeat, got two goals and three assists from Rosemary Mahoney. Grace Winkler scored three times for a hat trick, with Kara Rosenberger, Karly Dillobaugh, Adelaide Lowery and Gianna Zerrillo adding one goal apiece.
Skaneateles could now focus on a tough sectional final opponent, top seed South Jefferson, who in the first semifinal ripped past Marcellus, the no. 4 seed, handing the Mustangs a 19-4 defeat.
Ending the suspense early, the Spartans were up 13-2 by halftime. Single goals by Annalise Bird, Quinn Burnett, Lucy Powell and Cadie Tierney was all Marcellus could manage as Macy Shultz and Carsyn Burnah each had five goals to lead South Jefferson, Julia Garvin adding four goals.
