High school lacrosse: South Jefferson, Watertown girls claim Section 3 titles

Yahoo

2 days ago

Jun. 3—CORTLAND — Monday proved to be a banner night for the Frontier League in girls lacrosse.
One team successfully defended their sectional title and another returned to the championship ranks.
South Jefferson defeated Westhill, 13-7, in the Class D final at SUNY Cortland.
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In Class B, Watertown rallied to beat Auburn, also 13-7, at the same venue.
With the win, the Spartans repeated as sectional champion.
Meanwhile, the Cyclones prevailed to claim their first Section 3 title in nearly a decade.
SOUTH JEFFERSON 13, WESTHILL 7
The top-seeded Spartans rode a surge in the fourth quarter to turn back the third-seeded Warriors and prevail in the Class D final.
Amalia Netto scored three goals and assisted on two others, and Lily Morrison supplied three goals and an assist for South Jefferson (18-1).
"It's amazing to be back here and get a two-peat again," Spartans senior Chloe Elmer said. "We're excited to be here obviously and excited for states."
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Lydia Tremont tallied two goals and two assists, including the go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter, and Emma Kelley contributed two goals and an assist.
The Spartans dominated in the possession game as Elmer won 16 draw controls.
"Defensively we played well, but Chloe was dominant on the draw and we didn't have to play much defense," South Jefferson coach Jen Williams said. "Later on, we were winning ground balls at that point and we were possessing the ball, we were getting better looks and the girls came through."
In an encounter which was close nearly throughout until the fourth quarter, South Jefferson finished with a flourish by generating the last six goals of the game.
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"We knew they were going to give us a fight, there were matchups that are pretty consistent," Elmer said of Westhill. "But we knew we had the heart and we knew we had the confidence to go in and win and we executed, which is really important."
"I think just our intensity was up, we were excited, we knew we had one goal and we wanted to do it as a team," Morrison, a senior midfielder, said. "And I think we all just kind of came together, like we put it together and got it done."
After Westhill tied the game at 7-7 on a goal from Kara Rosenberger with 9:24 left in regulation, Tremont scored the go-ahead goal with 7:41 remaining, while the Spartans were a player up after a Westhill player was assessed a two-minute penalty.
"The draws obviously helped, but the execution our offense had, we had good opportunities, we were man up for most of the game," Elmer, a senior defender, said. "And later on when were able to execute when we were a man up, that execution was important."
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Kelley then followed with back-to-back goals, the first an unassisted effort and the second set up by Tremont with 4:58 left to build an 10-7 advantage.
Netto would score 57 seconds later after Elmer won yet another faceoff and Morrison followed with a goal to extend the scoring run to five. Hodges would then add a goal to complete the scoring.
"We had our last-minute push, the draws started clicking, the defense started clicking, the offense started clicking and we just really ran with it," Elmer said.
Also with the triumph, South Jefferson also claimed back-to-back sectional titles for the first time in program history.
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"It's something every team wants to do once, but we wanted to do it twice," Morrison said. "We really wanted this and we were excited to come back and get the opportunity to do it again and go as far as we can."
"I never had a doubt, I was just anticipating it would have been a little bit easier," Williams said of the win. "But at the same time, I just think that, it's a championship-style game, this is a big stage for kids. And they handled it and they did well, they've earned it and I'm glad they came through with it."
The Spartans now advance to a state quarterfinal when they'll face an opponent to be determined at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Christian Brothers Academy.
Last year, the Spartans defeated Westhill in the final and went on to reach the state final in Class D.
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WATERTOWN 13, AUBURN 7
Olivia Macutek and Alena Clough each scored four times to propel the top-seeded Cyclones past the second-seeded Maroons in the Class B title game.
"This is so awesome, we have no words to describe it," Macutek said.
Julia Covey and Delaney Callahan each contributed two goals to propel Watertown, which improves to 10-8 on the season.
"I'm speechless, like genuinely speechless, it's like the greatest feeling ever," Clough said.
Goalie Lilah Bieri made seven saves, including several clutch saves in the second half, to record the win.
She was supported by a strong defensive effort as the Cyclones yielded only one goal in the second half.
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Watertown trailed by two goals at halftime, but mounted a determined rally to take command.
"I think we handled that well and we were just like 'who wants it?" Clough said of the team being down at halftime. "And we were like, 'we want it more,' so we went out there and we had to prove it."
"I think after the first half, after we were able to kind of take it all in, this is a different atmosphere for us, obviously," Watertown coach Taylor Purvis said. "And we knew we had adjustments to make and we did a really good job of coming out in the second half and playing more confidently."
Callahan and Adriana Arthur each scored a goal within a span of two minutes to draw the Cyclones even at 6-6.
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Clough then struck for back-to-back goals, scoring twice within a span of 24 seconds.
First, she converted on a free-position attempt with six minutes left in the quarter to provide Watertown with its first lead of the game at 7-6, then followed with an unassisted tally.
Macutek followed by generating two quick goals within 48 seconds, first scoring 1:21 into the final period.
After Auburn's Anna LeFevre scored just 12 seconds later, Macutek responded with tally set up by Clough to extend the lead to 10-7 and the Cyclones never looked back.
"She (Clough) assisted one of mine and our teammates did a great job opening up lanes for us and we all just played together as one unit and really fed the ball well," Macutek said.
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"Alena is one of our seniors so that was really awesome to see her perform the way she did and be successful with it," Purvis said. "Olivia, everyone knows she's one of our go-to (players), she's all over the field, she never gives up, her tenacity is something I hope all of our girls strive for all the time."
In the meantime, Auburn went scoreless for nearly 15 minutes since their last goal in the second quarter.
"I think energy, everyone was communicating and defense did a phenomenal job on really stopping the ball," Clough said of the team's success in the second half. "And heads up to our goalie Lilah Bieri, she had an amazing second half, had some key saves that really helped us translate to the offensive end and get those quick goals."
"We knew that possession in the midfield was probably going to be where we struggled," Purvis said. "So being able to adjust to that in the second half and come up with the ball. Even when the times we didn't come up with it, the defense knew it was their job to stop them, and our goalie Lilah did great, she had a really great second half for us."
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The Cyclones also secured their fourth sectional title and their first since the 2016 season.
"We've had an up and down season, so for us to come out with a sectional title really means a lot to all the girls and us as coaches," Purvis said. "Just to know that we were working towards that and capable of achieving that goal is great."
Watertown advances to a state quarterfinal to play Columbia of Section 2 at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Queensbury High School in the Glens Falls area.