At Wednesday night’s Section VI girls lacrosse championships, two programs continued their winning ways, while another made a serious statement by ending a significant reign.
Lancaster and Hamburg both extended their championship runs to three years with excruciatingly tough battles as Lancaster beat rival Frontier, 10-8, in Class A while Hamburg fended off a great challenge from Williamsville North, 14-11, in Class B.
In the middle game of the championship tripleheader witnessed by an estimated combined crowd of 1,000 at Robert E. Rich All High Stadium, Lake Shore ended Amherst’s nine-year sectional championship run with a 9-5 victory in Class C. It was the Eagles’ second sectional title and first since 2011.
“My seniors were determined to win this year,” said Lake Shore coach Hannah Wawrowski. “Alie Jimerson has been on the team since eighth grade, she said, ‘I’m a senior, I’m a captain, I want to win this year.’ Alie, Shelby Stevens, Danielle Williams, I’ve known them all since seventh grade. ... They all love each other.”
The three Section VI champions now head to Honeoye Falls-Lima for Saturday’s Far West Regionals, where they will take on their counterparts from Section V (Rochester area) for the right to advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four next weekend at Cortland State.
Hamburg (13-6) will play Victor at 1 p.m., Lancaster (14-3) will play Pittsford at 3 in Class A and Lake Shore (12-3) will take on Penn Yan at 5 in Class C.
Lancaster continued its long-term domination of Class A with its ninth title in the last 10 years as it beat a Frontier team it has met in the last four Section VI finals. The game was predictably competitive throughout, with seemingly every ground ball off every draw control fiercely fought as possession went from one team to the other.
Lancaster had a 5-4 lead at halftime and took leads of 7-4 and 9-6 but both times Frontier rallied to within one. Lancaster got what would prove to be a huge goal on a free position shot by sophomore Anna Orlando to gain its 10-8 lead with 8:27 left.
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle back and forth,” Lancaster coach Julie Buccieri said. “We came up big with big plays at big times.”
Hamburg gutted out its win thanks to senior Jill Ford’s five goals, junior Rachel Arana’s five assists and three goals each from sophomore Claire Herrmann and senior Sam Eberle.
Williamsville North took a 9-8 lead on a goal by all-over-the-field senior Katie Wolfe (four goals) with 16:35 to play, but Hamburg responded by tying it on a Ford goal. Hamburg went up two goals, North scored twice to tie it at 11, but then the seasoned Bulldogs closed the game with three straight.
Freshman Sophia Koenig had three goals while senior Shelby Stevens and junior Symone Maracle each had two for the Eagles.
email: kmcshea@buffnews.com
Lancaster and Hamburg both extended their championship runs to three years with excruciatingly tough battles as Lancaster beat rival Frontier, 10-8, in Class A while Hamburg fended off a great challenge from Williamsville North, 14-11, in Class B.
In the middle game of the championship tripleheader witnessed by an estimated combined crowd of 1,000 at Robert E. Rich All High Stadium, Lake Shore ended Amherst’s nine-year sectional championship run with a 9-5 victory in Class C. It was the Eagles’ second sectional title and first since 2011.
“My seniors were determined to win this year,” said Lake Shore coach Hannah Wawrowski. “Alie Jimerson has been on the team since eighth grade, she said, ‘I’m a senior, I’m a captain, I want to win this year.’ Alie, Shelby Stevens, Danielle Williams, I’ve known them all since seventh grade. ... They all love each other.”
The three Section VI champions now head to Honeoye Falls-Lima for Saturday’s Far West Regionals, where they will take on their counterparts from Section V (Rochester area) for the right to advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four next weekend at Cortland State.
Hamburg (13-6) will play Victor at 1 p.m., Lancaster (14-3) will play Pittsford at 3 in Class A and Lake Shore (12-3) will take on Penn Yan at 5 in Class C.
Lancaster continued its long-term domination of Class A with its ninth title in the last 10 years as it beat a Frontier team it has met in the last four Section VI finals. The game was predictably competitive throughout, with seemingly every ground ball off every draw control fiercely fought as possession went from one team to the other.
Lancaster had a 5-4 lead at halftime and took leads of 7-4 and 9-6 but both times Frontier rallied to within one. Lancaster got what would prove to be a huge goal on a free position shot by sophomore Anna Orlando to gain its 10-8 lead with 8:27 left.
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle back and forth,” Lancaster coach Julie Buccieri said. “We came up big with big plays at big times.”
Hamburg gutted out its win thanks to senior Jill Ford’s five goals, junior Rachel Arana’s five assists and three goals each from sophomore Claire Herrmann and senior Sam Eberle.
Williamsville North took a 9-8 lead on a goal by all-over-the-field senior Katie Wolfe (four goals) with 16:35 to play, but Hamburg responded by tying it on a Ford goal. Hamburg went up two goals, North scored twice to tie it at 11, but then the seasoned Bulldogs closed the game with three straight.
Freshman Sophia Koenig had three goals while senior Shelby Stevens and junior Symone Maracle each had two for the Eagles.
email: kmcshea@buffnews.com