ONONDAGA COUNTY – Now the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls lacrosse teams had a common bond – namely, wins over long-time rival West Genesee.
Less than a week after LHS topped the Wildcats on April 20, the Northstars did so at home at Bragman Stadium, riding a career night from freshman Elizabeth Smith to a 13-8 victory.
No matter what WG’s defense tried, it could not contain Smith, whose six goals nearly equaled the opposition and was supported by Mackenzie Prentice earning five assists.
Sophia Nesci scored twice and got two assists, with Brooke Molchanoff getting three assists. Gabby Putman, Gabby Pauline, Natalie Wilson and Marissa Doty also earned goals as Jilly Howell and Nicole Mirra combined for seven saves.
Traveling to Fayetteville-Manlius two nights later, C-NS leaned heavily on its defense as it shut down the Hornets for long stretches of the night and prevailed 9-3.
Howell stopped eight of the 11 shots she faced and played the full game as Mackenzie Prentice carried the attack, scoring four times and adding an assist. Smith and Putman each had one goal and one assist, with Wilson, Doty and Pauline also finding the net.
Then, against Section V’s Brighton on Saturday afternoon, the Northstars pulled out an 8-7 decision as each of the nine saves put up by Howell and Mirra were important and C-NS improved to 10-1 overall.
Molchanoff, Smith and Prentice led C-NS with two goals apiece. Single goals went to Wilson and Shea Firth, with Doty and Putman joining Wilson in the assist column.
Liverpool would get its a look at reigning state Class A champion Baldwinsville last Thursday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the first time these two sides had met since last season’s Section III final.
Now, as then, the Bees proved overwhelming in the first half, amassing 15 goals on the way to a 19-9 victory led by the trio of Sophia Muscolino (six goals, two assists), Carlie Desimone (five goals, three assists) and Brianna Peters (five goals, two assists),
When it did get chances, Liverpool had Mia Berthoff score four times, with Gianna Carbone adding a pair of goals. Abby Geary, Cailtyn Guilfoil and Emma Esposito had one goal apiece.
Two days later, Liverpool faced another reigning sectional champion, Class C power Jamesville-DeWitt, and played close most of the way, yet still lost 12-10 to the Red Rams.
Even with Carbone’s five goals, Liverpool fell to 4-6 overall. Guilfoil got two goals as Berthoff, Esposito and Addyson Graham each scored once. Macy Durkin, Merris Kessler (four goals each) and Caroline Stone (five assists) led J-D.
