CORTLAND – Not even an extended wait and a couple of early setbacks would keep the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team from enjoying its long-awaited return to the state final four and charging to a spot in the Class A championship game.
Nine unanswered goals that spanned the first and second quarters of Friday’s state Class A semifinal at SUNY-Cortland, along with three goals and six assists from Sophia Nesci, propelled the Northstars past Suffern 13-5 and into Saturday’s state final against Fairport.
“We have more grit, speed and hustled than any other team I’ve been on,” said Nesci. “We want it more.”
The nearly week-long wait since C-NS”s June 1 romp over Corning in the regional final got longer still when stormy weather pushed back the start of the game to later on Friday afternoon while the players waited underneath the stadium for two hours.
Still, the Northstars’ players took to activities such as dance contests to stay energized and positive. And when it finally did get on the field, it didn’t flinch when 10 seconds into the game Michaela Fay scored, putting the Northstars in its first deficit of the post-season.
“We often come out flat,” said Nesci. “But that woke us up and motivated us.”
That deficit lasted all of 32 seconds as Nesci fed Brooke Molchanoff for an immediate answer. Nesci also assisted on Natalie Wilson’s goal before finding the net herself to put C-NS in front to stay, 3-2, before the game was five minutes old.
Mackenzie Prentice arrived to assist on Elizabeth Smith’s goal, convert herself and then watch Nesci take a pass from another draw won by Gabby Putman and convert it – three C-NS goals just 50 seconds apart late in the first quarter.
Nesci wasn’t done, either. She added another assist to extend the Northstars’ run to nine consecutive goals before Suffern, trailing 10-2, finally broke the string. But Nesci tacked on another assist on Prentice’s second goal in the last minute of the half, making it 11-3 at the break.
The margin grew to 13-3 midway through the third quarter, with Smith and Molchanoff both joining Nesci earning three-goal hat tricks for C-NS, who now stands one victory from its first state title since 1996.
The other state semifinal was far tighter, going back and forth between Fairport and Massapequa before the Section V champions prevailed 10-9 with a goal in the last minute of regulation.
