CENTRAL NEW YORK – Among the area small school girls lacrosse teams Skaneateles has always held sway, but Westhill may be ready to challenge.
In the Lakers’ case, it has put its lopsided April 3 loss to West Genesee far behind them, following with three consecutive wins including one against a Class A side from Shenendehowa Tuesday night at Hyatt Stadium.
Skaneateles, no. 5 in the first state Class D rankings of the spring, beat Shen 11-5, sprinting out in front early and then heavily leaning on its defense late to the tune of limiting Shen to a single goal in the second half.
Paige Willard was involved with most of the attack thanks to four goals and three assists. Lily Kennedy got a three-goal hat trick, Mara Stanton adding two goals as Grace Marquardt and Ana Nichols both had two assists, Marquardt joining Sophia Nichols in the goal-scoring column.
As for Westhill, the state no. 10-ranked Warriors followed up a pair of season-opening wins by enduring its toughest test yet last Monday night at Westhill, but able to beat the Brothers 14-11.
Building a 9-5 lead by halftime, Westhill answered all of CBA’s attempts to catch up largely due to the duo of Kara Rosenberger and Melissa Mondo as Rosenberger scored five times and Mondo added four goals plus an assist.
Passing to both of them, Sophia Lasher amassed five assists, also joining Grace Stroman and Avery Starowicz with single goals as Aubrey Holowinski converted twice. Leading CBA, Maeve Mackenzie had four goals and Ryann Murphy had four goals.
Far easier was Wednesday’s 15-5 win over Auburn in chilly conditions where Westhill steadily got away from the Maroons and saw four different players earn hat tricks.
Mondo scored four times, with Rosenberger and Lasher each earning three goals and two assists. Stroman earned three goals and one assist and Shea Morse had two assists as single tallies went to Holowinski and Kaylin Murphy.
Marcellus found itself in an exciting contest last Monday night against General Brown, but the Mustangs did enough on offense to outlast the Lions by a one-goal margin, 15-14.
Taking full advantage of GB trying to contain Cece Powell, Sophia Pilon and Avery Shute both set season marks with six goals as Pilon added two assists. Powell still managed to scored twice as Quinn Child got the other goal and each of goalie Mia Caryl’s six saves proved important. Tricia Price led GB with five goals and one assist.
Thursday’s game with General Brown was close for a while, too, but a modest 5-4 halftime advantage grew when the Mustangs’ attack wore the Wolves down, eventually producing a 16-10 victory.
Unlike General Brown, IR could not stop Powell, who poured in eight goals, half her team’s output, and added a pair of assists, while Sophia Pilon again managed six goals and two assists. Shute and Vivian Pilon contributed single goals.
Jordan-Elbridge moved its early-season mark to 4-1 in last Monday’s game against Section V’s Wayne, rolling to a 19-9 victory over the Warriors as Kelsey Brunelle reached double digits in points.
Between her five goals and six assists, Brunelle converted and opened up room for Brenna Tubbert, who set a new career mark earning six goals plus an assist. Evelyn Bennett and Bri Gilfus both had three-goal hat tricks, Bennett adding three assists as Stella Opanhoske added two goals and one assist.
