Girls lacrosse: On mission, Broncos win elusive state Class D title, dominating Skaneateles
CORTLAND — Thirty minutes after the celebration began, it continued on the field Saturday night at SUNY-Cortland.
That's the same field where, in 2019, before COVID-19 would cancel the next two state championships, six members of this year's Bronxville girls lacrosse team experienced the devastation of losing a state championship.
It was made worse by the fact it was Bronxville's third straight state championship loss.
For five of those players, this year marked their last shot.
And they and their 11th-grade goalie, who'd been there as a playoff call-up in 2019, as well as the rest of a team that entered this year's final with a 20-1 record, weren't going to be denied.
Bronxville finally claimed its ultimate prize, the state Class D title, with a convincing 15-8 win over Section 3 Skaneateles.
"It's an amazing feeling. We've been wanting this for three years. ... We missed out for two years (due to COVID). This is the best feeling ever. We've worked for this together," said senior Bridget Finley, one of those six 2019 veterans.
Player of the game
Finley and the rest of her team played like they were on a mission.
And at times, the mission commander was clearly Kiki Tormey.
The senior was dominant on the draw and scored four times, three of those goals coming in the first half and all unassisted, as Bronxville built a 6-3 lead.
By the numbers
Bronxville, under the leadership of first-year coach and athletic director Joe Haven, who last served as a lacrosse coach in 2004, coaching, as it happened, the nearby Cicero-North Syracuse boys team, never trailed.
Catherine Berkery got the Broncos on the scoreboard one minute, 40 seconds after the opening faceoff, getting the rebound off her own shot and rifling the ball in. That was one of her two goals.
Senior Molly Krestinski finished with four goals and an assist. Her first goal was a pretty one-timer off a perfect Berkery feed.
Senior Caroline Ircha, who ran dashes in the winter for Bronxville's strong girls track team, had a huge game, showing that speed in beating Skaneateles to multiple balls off the draw.
She also scored twice and had an assist. One of Ircha's goals came with her grabbing the draw ball, then sprinting all the way down the field for the score. That put Bronxville up 10-4 with 15:26 to play.
Finley also scored twice. One of those goals came after Molly Krestinski picked off a Lakers' pass in front of the Bronxville net, and Megan Krestinski (who had a goal and an assist) found Finley all by herself in a 1-on-0 with the Laker netminder.
Anna Becker also had an assist for Bronxville, which finished the season 21-1, its only loss coming by one goal to New Canaan, which claimed a Connecticut state title Saturday.
Rachel Hackler and Kathryn Morrissey both scored twice for Skaneateles, which ended the season 19-4.
Ava Logan, Tatum Ryan, Lilly Marquart and Isabelle Brogan each scored once.
Julia O'Connor had two assists and and Anasofia Cirincione and Logan both had one assist.
Bronco junior goalie Olivia Shinsato had five saves. A couple were big stops in tight.
Laker netminder Rachelle Cain stopped three shots.
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Quotables
Ircha pointed to the Broncos' ability to keep the ball away from the Lakers' as key to the win.
And she also pointed to the importance of team members who got little or no playing time Saturday.
"I think we came with energy, especially our sidelines were so excited for us," Ircha said.
"Coming back here was everything we wanted," Tormey said.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: Bronxville beats Skaneateles for NYSPHSAA title
