CORTLAND – Bent on adding to its rich history of state championship glory, the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team instead had to watch someone else make their long-awaited breakthrough.
The Lakers fell to Bronxville 15-8 in Saturday’s state Class D championship game at SUNY-Cortland, denied the top prize by a side that atoned for three consecutive defeats in previous finals appearances.
For teams from different parts of the state, Skaneateles and Bronxville had plenty of recent memorable history, from the state final won by the Lakers in 2017 to the state semifinal in 2019 claimed by the Broncos.
In theory, Skaneateles had four state championships on its ledger and did not face the same pressure as did Bronxville, playing in its fourth consecutive title game but never having won it all.
Yet it was the Broncos who were the confident, assertive team from the outset, claiming draws and forcing all kinds of rushed passes and turnovers whenever the Lakers were trying to attack.
At first, this didn’t translate into goals, Bronxville only converting once in the first nine minutes, but it stretched the margin to 3-0 midway through the first half thanks to goals by Caroline Ircha and Molly Krestinski.
Not until the 16:35 mark did the Lakers break up the shutout with Tate Ryan’s free-position goal. Forced into extra work, defenders Ella Bobbett, Rory Comer, Maeve McNeil and Katie Reed did all they could to keep the game within range.
The problem, said head coach Bridget Marquardt, was that “we didn’t have the ball, and when we did, we were rushed. They (Bronxville) won draws and were phenomenal.”
Kiki Tormey, who was controlling most of those draws, hit on three straight goals late in the half. Only goals by Kathryn Morrissey and Lilly Marquardt kept the game within sight, the Lakers trailing 6-3 at the break.
Denied on a long possession early in the second half, Skaneateles did convert when Ava Logan made a strong move to the net minutes later, but that was sandwiched in between goals by sisters Megan and Molly Krestinski.
Even more damaging was the goals by Ircha and Catherine Berkery seven seconds apart that made it 10-4 with 15:41 to play, forcing the Lakers to use a time-out. This hardly stopped Bronxville, who made it 12-4 with goals from Molly Krestinski and Bridget Finley.
By the time Rachel Hackler converted back-to-back goals to cut it to 12-6 with 9:21 left, the game was all but out of reach. Still, said Bridget Marquardt, “I’m proud that they didn’t quit”, the Lakers working to the end and getting goals from Morrissey and Bella Brogan.
A day earlier, while Bronxville was topping Cold Spring Harbor 11-6 in one state semifinal, Sknaeateles was breezing through its semifinal game with Section V’s Palmyra-Macedon, routing the Red Raiders 15-3.
Pal-Mac was appearing in the state final four for the fourth consecutive time dating back to 2017, having never made it out of the semifinals each of those previous three occasions.
The Lakers made sure the Red Raiders left disappointed again, leading from the moment Brogan scored off a feed from Lilly Marquardt in the game’s opening minute.
Dominating the draws thanks to Morrissey and rarely letting Pal-Mac get the ball out of its own end, Skaneateles applied relentless pressure, which started to wear the Red Raiders down.
Morrissey and Bella Brogan scored 19 seconds apart to make it 3-0, and it kept building from there, the Lakers able to get to a running clock and a 10-0 lead before the game even hit the 18-minute mark.
Pal-Mac only managed two shots in the first half and trailed 11-0 at halftime, only getting on the board when Molly Seither scored more than four minutes into the second half.
Morrissey, aside from her draws, found the net four times. Brogan had three goals and one assist, with O’Connor getting a goal and two assists. Paige Willard added a pair of late goals as Marquardt, Logan, Ryan and Bobbett each had one goal and one assist.
As a whole, the Lakers’ 19-4 season was quite an achievement, especially given that it never had goalie Emily Evans available for the season after she tore her ACL.
Rachelle Cain, a member of the state championship Skaneateles girls hockey team in the winter but who had never played varsity lacrosse before, took over in the net and proved quite impressive, especially late in the dramatic Section III final against South Jefferson.
Bridget Marquardt said the whole team went through “a big learning curve” and, with just six seniors graduating, the return of so much talent in 2023 could mean another season that ends in June in Cortland, but with a better outcome.
