CORTLAND - Been there, done that.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Skaneateles' Emma Heuber battles Shoreham-Wading River's Kaitlyn Brosco for the ball Friday during a Class C semifinal at SUNY Cortland.
Skaneateles' Emma Heuber battles Shoreham-Wading River's Kaitlyn Brosco for the ball Friday during a Class C semifinal at SUNY Cortland.
Well, sort of.
The Skaneateles girls lacrosse team, the defending state champ and winners of 43 of their last 46 games, entered Friday's state semifinal as - shockingly - the underdog. The Lakers faced Section XI's Shoreham-Wading River, New York's No. 1-ranked team in Class C.
The Lakers have dispatched opponents all season with the disposition of grizzled veterans, but on Friday, the young squad's talent, as well as nerves, were on display as their season hung in the balance.
Skaneateles was uncharacteristically sloppy with passes, especially in the second half, but the offensive duo of Stephanie Rice and Libby Johnson was too much for S-WR to handle. The Lakers advanced to the state championship game with a 14-11 victory at SUNY Cortland. They play Section V winner Penn Yan today at 9:30 a.m.
Apparently, the 2005 state championship was only in the back pocket of a few Lakers as a majority didn't see a lot of playing time last year. Not surprisingly, it took many of the players a bulk of the game to adapt to play on the big stage.
“Some girls were nervous,” Skaneateles coach Bridget Marquardt said. “We've only got four starters returning from last year. This setting, it definitely affected us. We had some dropped passes and made some mistakes that we wouldn't normally make. But we scored when we needed to and controlled the clock when we needed to - that's all that matters.”
The tale of the tape early was possession. The Wildcats won the game's first two draws and jettisoned to a 2-0 lead. The Lakers countered, winning five consecutive draws, which led to five unanswered goals and the calming of many stomachs.
“It would have been easy to give up after that first 90 seconds,” Rice said. “But we came back and showed ourselves that we can play with anybody. We just needed to slow the pace. It was so up-and-down early, we told ourselves to play our game and settle it down.”
The Wildcats threw an impermeable zone at the Lakers and it took some time for the speedy attack to find a clear path to the net. All it took was some patience and some pinpoint passing.
“You've got to pass against the zone, you can't drive,” Rice said. “I tried to run through it a few times and realized I should have passed sooner.”
Rice touched up the Wildcats for four first-half goals while Johnson finished the half with three goals and two assists, both to Rice.
“Libby and I are best friends and we tend to look for each other,” Rice said. “There's a lot of trust and camaraderie on this team. We all feed off each other.”
Unfortunately for the Lakers, all halftime did was break the momentum. Skaneateles scored two goals in the first half's final minute to head into the half leading 11-6 but failed to find the net in the second half's opening 12 minutes. The Wildcats took advantage of a few Skaneateles turnovers and clutch goaltending from Amanda Rivera. Stephanie Anderson's goal with 14:02 remaining chipped the Lakers' lead to two, 11-9.
After a Skaneateles timeout, the team regrouped and both Rice and Johnson went back to work. Rice ended the scoring drought with a goal at the 12:42 mark, and Johnson supplied another score two minutes later, giving the Lakers a 13-9 cushion.
“They've figured out when they need to step up,” Marquardt said of Rice and Johnson. “You forget they're only juniors, but they're our leaders out there. They do it all, and not just on the offensive end. They stepped it up on defense, too.”
Jenna Lotkowictz scored and Shannon Tierney recovered a pivotal ground ball to put the game out of reach in the closing minutes. The Lakers basically ran out the final 3:30 by playing catch.
“We're a run-and-gun team, we like the fast break,” Marquardt said. “It's when we get up, that's when we like to control the pace and slow it down. We did a great job toward the end of slowing the game down and keeping it out of (S-WR's) hands.”
Aside from Rice (five goals) and Johnson (four goals, two assists), Tierney, Lotkowictz (two goals), Kelsey Nangle and Emma Heuber also scored for Skaneateles. Whitney Johnson also made some nice saves between the pipes.
The Lakers defeated Penn Yan in the state semifinal last year and Marquardt said Friday's game would serve as a good tune-up as S-WR and Penn Yan have similar styles of play.
“They're really fast,” she said. “They play the controlled game and like to get out and run. They play a lot like (S-WR). We've just got to keep possession and control the ball on offense. That's our key. We've got this game under our belts and I expect us to come out ready tomorrow.”
The Skaneateles girls lacrosse team, the defending state champ and winners of 43 of their last 46 games, entered Friday's state semifinal as - shockingly - the underdog. The Lakers faced Section XI's Shoreham-Wading River, New York's No. 1-ranked team in Class C.
The Lakers have dispatched opponents all season with the disposition of grizzled veterans, but on Friday, the young squad's talent, as well as nerves, were on display as their season hung in the balance.
Skaneateles was uncharacteristically sloppy with passes, especially in the second half, but the offensive duo of Stephanie Rice and Libby Johnson was too much for S-WR to handle. The Lakers advanced to the state championship game with a 14-11 victory at SUNY Cortland. They play Section V winner Penn Yan today at 9:30 a.m.
Apparently, the 2005 state championship was only in the back pocket of a few Lakers as a majority didn't see a lot of playing time last year. Not surprisingly, it took many of the players a bulk of the game to adapt to play on the big stage.
“Some girls were nervous,” Skaneateles coach Bridget Marquardt said. “We've only got four starters returning from last year. This setting, it definitely affected us. We had some dropped passes and made some mistakes that we wouldn't normally make. But we scored when we needed to and controlled the clock when we needed to - that's all that matters.”
The tale of the tape early was possession. The Wildcats won the game's first two draws and jettisoned to a 2-0 lead. The Lakers countered, winning five consecutive draws, which led to five unanswered goals and the calming of many stomachs.
“It would have been easy to give up after that first 90 seconds,” Rice said. “But we came back and showed ourselves that we can play with anybody. We just needed to slow the pace. It was so up-and-down early, we told ourselves to play our game and settle it down.”
The Wildcats threw an impermeable zone at the Lakers and it took some time for the speedy attack to find a clear path to the net. All it took was some patience and some pinpoint passing.
“You've got to pass against the zone, you can't drive,” Rice said. “I tried to run through it a few times and realized I should have passed sooner.”
Rice touched up the Wildcats for four first-half goals while Johnson finished the half with three goals and two assists, both to Rice.
“Libby and I are best friends and we tend to look for each other,” Rice said. “There's a lot of trust and camaraderie on this team. We all feed off each other.”
Unfortunately for the Lakers, all halftime did was break the momentum. Skaneateles scored two goals in the first half's final minute to head into the half leading 11-6 but failed to find the net in the second half's opening 12 minutes. The Wildcats took advantage of a few Skaneateles turnovers and clutch goaltending from Amanda Rivera. Stephanie Anderson's goal with 14:02 remaining chipped the Lakers' lead to two, 11-9.
After a Skaneateles timeout, the team regrouped and both Rice and Johnson went back to work. Rice ended the scoring drought with a goal at the 12:42 mark, and Johnson supplied another score two minutes later, giving the Lakers a 13-9 cushion.
“They've figured out when they need to step up,” Marquardt said of Rice and Johnson. “You forget they're only juniors, but they're our leaders out there. They do it all, and not just on the offensive end. They stepped it up on defense, too.”
Jenna Lotkowictz scored and Shannon Tierney recovered a pivotal ground ball to put the game out of reach in the closing minutes. The Lakers basically ran out the final 3:30 by playing catch.
“We're a run-and-gun team, we like the fast break,” Marquardt said. “It's when we get up, that's when we like to control the pace and slow it down. We did a great job toward the end of slowing the game down and keeping it out of (S-WR's) hands.”
Aside from Rice (five goals) and Johnson (four goals, two assists), Tierney, Lotkowictz (two goals), Kelsey Nangle and Emma Heuber also scored for Skaneateles. Whitney Johnson also made some nice saves between the pipes.
The Lakers defeated Penn Yan in the state semifinal last year and Marquardt said Friday's game would serve as a good tune-up as S-WR and Penn Yan have similar styles of play.
“They're really fast,” she said. “They play the controlled game and like to get out and run. They play a lot like (S-WR). We've just got to keep possession and control the ball on offense. That's our key. We've got this game under our belts and I expect us to come out ready tomorrow.”
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