CENTRAL NEW YORK – Not for a long time has the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team experienced something like it did last Thursday night in front of the home crowd at Hyatt Stadium.
West Genesee stepped up and ripped the Lakers 15-5, the first time in more than a decade that any opponent had topped Skaneateles by a double-digit margin.
True, the Lakers’ defeat to South Jefferson in last spring’s Section III Class D final was quite a jolt after a 2023 run to the state championship, yet the return of a strong group of players seemed to indicate another Skaneateles title run was possible.
But WG was in top form against the Lakers right from the outset, dominating draws and netting 11 unanswered goals after Skaneateles briefly went in front 1-0.
Only a running clock kept things at that margin the rest of the way, Sophia Lawrence finishing with four goals as Molly Doran augmented her three-goal hat trick by earning a trio of assists.
Maddie Ryder also scored three times, with Ashleigh Blanding getting a goal and two assists. Allison Kittell, Keira Vrabel, Maria Snyder and Gianna Puccia had the other goals.
Paige Willard and Grace Marquardt gave Skaneateles two goals apiece, the other goal going to Sophia Nichols.
Marcellus sported its own ambitions going into 2025 but suffered an immediate setback in the second half of a 17-8 season-opening defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius.
Steady early play gave the Mustangs a 6-5 advantage going into halftime. From there, though, Marcellus could not get a draw against the Hornets’ Jane Ryan (who won 21 of them) and saw the duo of Taylor Novack and Addison Keyes build up their totals – Novack getting seven goals, Keyes five goals.
Cece Powell scored three times, while Avery Shute and Sophia Pilon had two goals apiece. Leah Wood got the other goal and Piper Van Derhoof added an assist. Goalie Mia Caryl made 12 saves.
Moving to Saturday’s action, Marcellus lost again in a 17-15 battle with Watertown, one where Powell would break out with seven goals to equal the Cyclones’ Olivia Matucek.
Pilon chimed in with three goals plus an assist. Shute and Quinn Child both converted twice, with Piper Van Derhoof adding a goal as Caryl finished with 13 saves.
Then there was Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes, a team jolted when head coach Sara Loving had to step down just before the season got underway, moving with her husband out of town to a job he had just accepted.
So the teamed turned to 21-year-old assistant coach Taylor Chadderdon, a senior at Cayuga Community College, who took over during pre-season practices.
Given the dearth of time with its new head coach, Ludden/Grimes held up well in last Thursday’s opener, a 14-9 defeat to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill where it only trailed 7-5 at halftime before the Red Devils pulled away late.
Charlotte Hsiao finished with five goals, while Ashley Pawelczyk had three goals and one assist. Elizabeth Gaughan netted the other goals as goalie Jaylianna Pascarella recorded 10 saves.
VVS was the opponent for Jordan-Elbridge on Saturday and the Eagles won big, 15-5, moving its early-season record to 2-0.
Kelsey Brunelle burned the Red Devils for eight goals (she had five in the March 28 opener against Clinton) and added three assists, helped by a three-goal hat trick from Bri Gilfus. Stella Opanhoske scored twice and got three assists, Evelyn Bennett and Brenna Tubbert adding single goals and combining for three assists.
