Lacrosse: Scotia finding its championship form

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

Abby O'Connor of Scotia-Glenville, right, defends against Catholic Central's Hannah Field during Monday's Section II Class C lacrosse quarterfinal game.

One of Section II’s new girls’ lacrosse teams had one of the oldest on the ropes early in a Class C quarterfinal game Monday at Scotia-Glenville High School.

“They came out strong,” Tartans senior Abby O’Connor said of Catholic Central’s 3-1 game-starting spurt. “You wouldn’t have known they were a first-year varsity team. We realized, ‘Oh, no, we had to play hard.’ ”

Over the final 11 minutes of the opening half and throughout the second, Scotia-Glenville did the things that led to last year’s Class C championship and to 10 victories heading into this season’s playoffs.

Scotia-Glenville won center draws, connected on passes that had previously fallen away and hit shots that had earlier missed the mark in an 11-5 triumph.

“Catholic Central wanted it as much as we did,” Scotia-Glenville coach Katelyn Nardini said. “We were able to step it up.”

The game was a microcosm of the Tartans’ season, the coach said. The Foothills Council representatives (No. 2 seed, 11-5) came into the campaign different than last year, having lost not only eight seniors, but head coach Ashleigh Mahoney and assistant Jennifer Staucet, who both recently delivered babies.

“Since Day 1 to now, we keep getting better,” said Nardini, the former assistant’s sister. (Both played at Scotia.) “There’s been such a huge improvement. I’ve seen it every week, and there’s still more in us.”

The objective for Wednesday’s home semifinal against Emma Willard (No. 3 seed, 8-7) is to play even better than in Monday’s comeback, which included six unanswered goals to erase the 3-1 deficit and a three-goal run later on that all but clinched the win.

“We’ll be working hard [today] in practice,” O’Connor said after leading Scotia-Glenville with six goals and an assist. “In soccer, we blew it. We lost in the semifinals [to Mohonasen 2-1]. We didn’t come out strong enough. We want to come out strong and get to the title game.”

Catholic Central (No. 7 seed, 3-7) had more might Monday, at least in the beginning.

“I was surprised when we jumped out to a 3-1 lead,” Crusaders coach Maureen Lammon said. “They’re a strong program and have been around a long time.

“We were not sure what to expect. We never played them before.”

Lindsay Honsinger scored with 13:53 left in the first half to give the Colonial Council team their 3-1 lead, and soon after, Crusaders goalkeeper Keira DiNuzzo made the best of her five saves on a point-blank rip by Nicole Polsinelli.

“It was just our inexperience,” Lammon said of the Scotia-Glenville surge that began shortly after DiNuzzo’s superb stop. “We couldn’t keep up the pace.”

O’Connor and Alyssa Williams scored goals 26 second apart to begin a 5-0 run to close out the first half, and O’Connor finished it with two more.

Polsinelli opened the second-half scoring to give Scotia-Glenville a 7-3 advantage, and, after Bayly Lammon answered for the Crusaders, O’Connor delivered twice and Lillian Murphy connected off Alexis Zatlokowicz’s second assist.

“As a team, we really picked it up,” Scotia-Glenville sophomore goalkeeper Abbie McHerron said after her nine-save effort. “We knew we had to leave it all on the line or that was it. Season over.”

Scotia-Glenville ended a 10-year Section II title drought when it defeated Albany Academy 8-6 last spring in the Class C final. Scotia-Glenville got there by beating Holy Names 16-5 in the semifinal round.

“We have to have good practices and come out ready to play 100 percent,” Nardini said of winning two more games. “We need to stay with it and have heart. We’ve had a couple of games already that came down to heart, and it was us that wanted it more.”

Emma Willard pulled away in the second half to beat Hoosick Falls 16-7 and earn its semifinal date with Scotia-Glenville.

Olivia Cardish, Lara Cunningham and Trinity Aptekarev scored four goals apiece for the Jesters, with Cardish and Cunningham adding three and two assists, respectively.

Schuylerville beat Glens Falls 20-7 and Greenwich topped Holy Names 16-5 for its first-ever quarterfinal win, setting up a Wednesday semifinal on the Black Horses’ turf field.

Amy Moreau scored seven goals to spark Schuylerville (No. 1 seed, 11-5). Maria Patane had five goals and two assists for Greenwich (No. 4, 9-6).

SCOTIA-GLENVILLE 11, CATHOLIC CENTRAL 5

CCHS 3 2 — 5

S-G 6 5 — 11

Catholic Central scoring: Kelly Stanton 1-0, Colleen McDonnell 1-0, Lindsay Hinsinger 1-0, Bayly Lammon 1-0, Hannah Field 1-0. Scotia-Glenville scoring: Abby O’Connor 6-1, Alyssa Williams 1-0, Nicole Polsinelli 2-0, Katelyn McGlauflin 1-0, Lilliam Murphy 1-0.

Goalkeepers: Catholic Central, Keira DiNuzzo, 5 saves. Scotia-Glenville, Abbie McHerron, 9 saves.

EMMA WILLARD 16, HOOSICK FALLS 7

Hoosick Falls 5 2 — 7

Emma Willard 8 8 — 16

Hoosick Falls scoring: Lillian Hickey 2-0, Olivia Cushman 1-0, Kara LaFlamme 1-0, Jordyn Haynes 1-0, Anna Wysocki 1-0, Mackenzie Sprague 1-0. Emma Willard scoring: Olivia Cardish 4-3, Trinity Aptekarev 4-0, Lara Cunningham 4-2, Katie Williams 2-1, Maddy Hill 2-0, Piper Campbell 0-2.

Goalkeepers: Hoosick Falls, Madeline Yeung, 8 saves. Emma Willard, Olivia Mautone, 3 saves.

GREENWICH 16, HOLY NAMES 5

Holy Names 2 3 — 5

Greenwich 9 7 — 16

Holy Names scoring: Lydia Williams 1-0, Nell Guarino 2-2, Anne Risler 2-0. Greenwich scoring: Laurel Becker 1-2, Grace Peck 0-1, Hadley Vanderwater 3-1, Maia Passino 3-0, Colby Youndt 4-1, Maria Patane 5-2, Megan Steindl 0-1, Amma Brophy 0-1.

Goalkeepers: Holy Names, Gianna Giacotti, 3 saves. Greenwich, Olivia Barnes, 12 saves.

SCHUYLERVILLE 20, GLENS FALLS 7

Glens Falls 5 2 — 7

Schuylerville 12 8 — 20

Glens Falls scoring: Taylor Wooley 1-1, Sarah Blow 1-0, Emily Haas 1-0, Christine Hogan 2-0, Phoebe Fox 2-1. Schuylerville scoring: Kaitlyn Gunter 4-1, Alexa Waldron 2-0, Amanda Carlstrom 2-1, Joanna Gaertner 1-1, Morgan Gunter 2-1, Amy Moreau 7-0, Cassie Patrick 1-1, Grace Hanehan 1-0.

Goalkeepers: Glens Falls, Kasi Johnson, 5 saves. Schuylerville, Anna Moreau, 5 saves; Brook Carpenter, 2 saves.