CORTLAND – What the West Genesee girls lacrosse team did last Monday night was more than good enough to win a Section III Class A championship in most years.
Against the reigning state champions from Cicero-North Syracuse the Wildcats answered every single challenge thrown at them and poured in more goals than in all but two of its games from this season.
And it wasn’t quite enough.
Still, the disappointment of an 18-17 defeat to the Northstars could not dim what WG accomplished, forcing C-NS to have to work until the last seconds of the game in order to hang on.
To say that this game defied expectations understates it. When these same two teams met in the regular season the Wildcats were overpowered by the Northstars who dominated both contests and won them by a combined 29-7 margin.
Yet WG already turned around one set of regular-season results in the sectional semifinals May 29 when it beat Fayetteville-Manlius 13-10 after losing twice to the Hornets earlier in the spring.
Even when C-NS jumped out to a 5-1 lead with its quick-strike attack thh Wildcats made up all the ground before the period ended and forged a 6-6 tie.
By the early portion of the second period the Wildcats had easily eclipsed the combined total of those first two games against the Northstars, and it had to since C-NS was converting at the same rate, the two sides also playing to a 6-6 stalemate in that frame.
Any question about whether WG could keep up its high level of play after this 12-12 first half was answered in the third quarter, for though the pace quieted down a bit it remained close, WG tying it again at 15-15 when Molly Doran converted just before the period ended.
Only in the fourth quarter did C-NS appear to get control, inching ahead on consecutive goals from Sophia Graham and, with less than four minutes left, growing the margin to 18-15 on Elizabeth Smith’s third goal of the night.
The Northtsars would need every bit of that cushion.
WG cut the margin to two when Maria Snyder converted with 2:33 left and got within one when Sophia Lawrence netted her fourth goal with 37 seconds to play, ample time to get a draw and threaten for a tying goal.
However, C-NS, so strong in the draw circle all season, claimed this one, too, and held on, having seen Natalie Wilson net a career-best six goals to lead her side and Graham add four goals.
Doran scored five times while tacking on three assists, and Lawrence earned four goals. Keira Vrabel and Ashleigh Blanding got two goals apiece and had three assists between them, Snyder also converting twice as Maddie Ryder gained four assists.
Later that night in the sectional Class D title game, Westhill also sought to upset a powerful defending sectional champion and 2024 state finalist and kept that hope for a long while before South Jefferson pulled away late and prevailed 14-7.
This margin in no way reflected how close the battle was most of the night, the Warriors newly confident in the wake of knocking off long-time nemesis Skaneateles 10-9 in the May 29 sectional semifinal.
All through the first half a pattern held. Westhill displayed patience with its attack and converted as many goals (five) as the Spartans averaged allowing in entire games this spring.
They remained this way through the third quarter, too, and even in the early stages of the final period the Warriors only trailed 8-7, perhaps one surge from a first-ever sectional title.
But Chloe Elmer took over in the draw circle for South Jefferson six straight times, never letting Westhill have the ball much and wearing down its defenses.
Emma Kelley’s goal with 5:51 to play began a pattern – the Spartans getting to the draw, then pushing through and finding the net on consecutive goals by Kelley, Amalia Netto, Lily Morrison and Leyla Hedge.
Netto and Morrison led South Jefferson with three goals apiece. Only Kara Rosenberger got to that mark for the Warriors, with Aubrey Holowinski scoring twice and single goals going to Kaylin Murphy and Grace Stroman. Westhill finished this season at 15-4 overall.
