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The Review, May 30, 2007--Girls Lacrosse Warriors Ousted by CNS--by Phil Blackwell
They would make the Liverpool girls lacrosse team's path in the Section
III Class A playoffs as rugged as possible. Despite this knowledge, the
no. 6 seed Warriors had little reason to fear last Tuesday's
quarterfinal against long-time rival Cicero-North Syracuse, for it had
split a pair of tense one-goal decisions with the Northstars, including
a May 18 duel where the Warriors came out on top. Sure enough, in the
early stages, Liverpool traded goals with CNS and even enjoyed a 3-2
lead--which gave no indication of the avalanche ahead.
Hitting a higher gear than it had ever shown in previous encounters
with the Warriors, the Northstars ran off eight unanswered goals and,
in effect, ended Liverpool's season, though it would end with a score
of 17-7. Amanda Pollock put the Warriors ahead just 1:36 into the game.
Jennifer VanderMeulen and Leah Lazarz would also score before the game
was seven minutes old, and CNS could only keep pace, an indication that
another long, exciting battle lay ahead.
Soon enough, though, CNS took away the excitement. It won a long series
of draws and tore through every possible gap in the Warriors' defense,
putting in seven straight goals in a span of exactly 10 minutes before
Liverpool could recover. Pollock, VanderMeulen and Tricia Hurley each
would finish with two goals. By contrast, CNS star Morgan Silva had six
goals, one away from Liverpool's entire total, and added an assist as
Ashley Waldron contributed three goals and one assist.
This meant that the Warriors finished with a record of 10-8. Hurley,
Lazarz, Casey Wilcox and Kara Kulba are the key departing seniors, but
a deep cast will be back in 2008. Pollock, VanderMeulen, Mikey Meagher,
Jordan Miller, Kate Wood, Alyssa Renk, Alyssa Tobias and Carolyn Barry
should combine to make the Warriors a force again.
The Review, May 23, 2007--Liverpool Girls Battle Past CNS--by Phil Blackwell
As it starts the Section III Class A playoffs, the Liverpool girls
lacrosse team at least can take comfort in the fact that it played a
tough homestretch. This capped off Friday, against rival Cicero-North
Syracuse, where the Warriors (10-7) edged past the Northstars (12-6) in
a tense 11-10 duel, reversing the one-goal defeat to that same team a
month earlier. Of course, it would not be the last time they would
meet, either. On Tuesday night, Liverpool, the no. 6 seed, met no. 3
seed CNS in the Section III Class A quarterfinals at Bragman Stadium,
the winner to get Baldwinsville or Auburn in Thursday's semifinals at
Auburn.
Thus, this game, close as it was, served as a warm-up for the larger
battle four days later. Still, it was a win the Warriors needed. A
strong first half allowed Liverpool to go up, 5-3, and though CNS would
improve on offense down the stretch, the Warriors would produce enough
to stay in front. Amanda Pollock and Jennnifer VanderMeulen each
finished with three goals, with Pollock adding an assist. Tricia Hurley
matched Pollock's point total, with two goals and two assists, and
Casey Wilcox earned one goal and three assists. Leah Lazarz and Cassie
Broton gained goals of their own, as Jordan Miller added an assist.
Mikey Meagher came up big throughout the night, her 16 saves a crucial
factor in the win. Ashley Waldron led CNS, scoring three times.
Playing at home last Tuesday against Fayetteville-Manlius, the Warriors
saw its offense slow down just enough to drop a wild 17-15 decision to
the Hornets. Liverpool enjoyed the quick pace and inched in front,
10-9, by halftime. But the Hornets, despite playing for the third time
in four days, found some reserves and rallied, mostly using its defense
to contain what it could not do earlier. Lazarz had a big night, with
five goals and one assist. VanderMeulen and Pollock each came up with
three-goal hat tricks, as Hurley earned two goals and three assists.
Wilcox and Miller each had one goal and one assist.
Working in the net, Meagher finished with 11 saves, but could not keep
everything out, as Allie Primo led the Hornets with four goals and
three assists, with teammate Mary Elizabeth Klepper adding two goals
and five assists.
The Review, May 9, 2007--Liverpool Girls Beaten by West Genny, Corcoran--by Phil Blackwell
Now was the time for the Liverpool girls lacrosse team to take the
biggest measure of itself, against the state's top-ranked team. And the
Warriors, like 11 previous opponents of West Genesee, came up far
short, as a dominant first half by the Wildcats led to a 14-7 decision.
Liverpool caught WG at an interesting time, in the midst of a stretch
where it was playing three games in as many days, though the Wildcats
had addressed that situation with liberal substitution in a win over
Auburn the night before. Quickly, the Warriors found out that the
Wildcats were far from fatigued.
Attacking with vigor and success, WG punctured Liverpool's defense
enough times to produce an 11-3 lead by halftime, a margin Liverpool
could not cut into during much of the second half. In defeat, Amanda
Pollock and Alyssa Renk came up with two goals, while Casey Wilcoz,
Jennifer VanderMeulen and Leah Lazarz got single tallies. WG's defense
did quite a job on Tricia Hurley, holding her to one assist. Mikey
Meagher had to make 19 saves to keep it from being more lopsided. Bekah
Elmer (three goals, one assist) and Sarah Kuonen (two goals, three
assists) led the Wildcats' deep and balanced attack.
While a defeat to West Genesee might have been expected, Liverpool had
to be surprised that, two nights later, it took another defeat, falling
to Corcoran 13-11. Playing at home, the Cougars jumped on the Warriors,
building an 8-4 halftime lead and never allowing the Warriors to catch
up. Balance, or lack of it, might have played a part. VanderMeulen led
both sides with six goals, but that accounted for more than half of
Liverpool's offense. Casey Wilcox (two goals, two assists) was the only
other Warrior to score twice, while Pollock, Lazarz and Hurley got the
other goals.
Corcoran had numerous threats, as Tammy Kohanski and Trenna Hill each
got three goals and a trio--Liz Manipole, Audrey Anistasi and Annie
Schneider--pulled out two goals apiece.
Right before WG, the Warriors tore it up on the offensive side against
Rome Free Academy, ripping the Black Knights 20-11. Liverpool built
much of its margin in the first half, eventually getting to 13-6 and
maintaining that aggression, even when the game was out of reach.
Pollock put up five goals and one assist, while VanderMeulen found the
net four times and Lazarz earned a three-goal had trick. Hurley and
Cassie Broton each gained two goals and two assists. Lisa Rager, Alyssa
Renk, Jessica Bogwicz and Marybeth Madia landed goals, too, with Wilcox
gaining three assists.
Down to 8-5 after that pair of defeats, the Warriors hoped to break the
skid Tuesday against Auburn, before it had to play West Genesee again
Thursday night in Camillus.
The Review, May 2, 2007--Liverpool Girls Take Loss to B'ville--by Phil Blackwell
Peeved at its loss to Cicero-North Syracuse on April 19, the
Liverpool girls lacrosse team tried to roar again. In its biggest
outing last week, the Warriors went to Baldwinsville on Saturday
afternoon, and saw its offense dry up at the wrong times, leading to a
9-6 defeat at the hands of the Bees. Though it beat B'ville in a
snow-filled overtime classic on April 5, the Warriors knew how much the
Bees had improved since that point, with the return of head coach Doug
Rowe from a school-imposed suspension and the team's win over
Fayetteville-Manlius two days earlier.
So even though Liverpool blanked B'ville in the game's first 12
minutes, it could only build a 1-0 lead. Soon after, the teams started
exchanging the lead, as Amanda Pollock recorded a hat trick before
halftime, yet still couldn't keep her side in front. At the break, the
Warriors and Bees were in a 4-4 deadlock. B'ville went ahead in the
second half and stayed there with its defense. After Tricia Hurley's
goal with 12:57 left that cut the deficit to 7-6, Liverpool did not
score again, frustrated several times by a stout back line from the
Bees and marvelous work by goalie Casey Cheisa.
The Warriors' defense found itself burned often by Meghan Merriam, who
led B'ville with four goals and one assist. Her teammate, Kara
Moschetti, added two goals and two assists.
Visiting Oswego last Tuesday afternoon, the Warriors were steady on
both ends of the field in a 13-4 win over the Buccaneers. Defenders
like Kara Kulba, Alyssa Tobias and Kate Wood made sure that the Bucs
never got established on its attack, holding them to two goals in each
half. Mikey Meagher helped too, with 12 saves. Liverpool's own attack
was, mostly, a three-way approach. Jennifer VanderMeulen gained four
goals and one assist, while Amanda Pollock scored three times. Leah
Lazarz contributed two goals and three assists. Tricia Hurley matched
Lazarz with three assists, as she joined Jessica Bogwicz, Marybeth
Madia and Casey Wilcox in the one-goal column.
In a strange outing Thursday night, the Warriors nearly blew a huge
lead to Henninger/Nottingham to make a furious rally. Pollock led the
way with four goals and one assist. VanderMeulen scored three times
while Lazarz and Hurley earned two goals apiece. Both Hurley and Wilcox
earned two assists, as Wilcox and Jordan Miller gained single goals and
Lisa Rager added an assist.
Liverpool was back home Tuesday to meet Rome Free Academy before a big Wednesday night clash with undefeated West Genesee.
The Review, April 25, 2007--Girls Lacrosse Warriors Edged by CNS--by Phil Blackwell
Somehow the Liverpool girls lacrosse team avoided the scheduling
headaches of other teams and roared to a 5-1 start, fully expecting to
continue that run in last Thursday's game at Cicero-North Syracuse. But
the Northstars had other plans. Never allowing the Warriors to get in
front, CNS withstood every possible rush and pulled out a 9-8 win, its
fourth in a row under new head coach Brooke Bramof.
Though it was playing its second game in as many nights, CNS showed
little fatigue, and made an early statement when Ashley Waldron ran 90
yards through the entire Warrior defense and, after picking up her own
rebound, fired a shot past Liverpool goalie Mikey Meagher. From that
point forward, Liverpool caught up just once, when Jessica VanderMeulen
and Tricia Hurley hit back-to-back goals 46 seconds apart to tie it,
3-3, late in the first half. Quickly answering, the Northstars took the
lead back and never let go of it, even though Liverpool would close
within one three different times in the second half. By far, the
biggest culprit for the Warriors was turnovers. It gave the ball back
to CNS many times deep in the Northstars' territory, its offense never
finding a full rhythm.
With 1:46 to play, Leah Lazarz scored to again slice the margin to one,
and it would win the ensuing draw. However, CNS forced another
turnover, then ran out the clock. VanderMeulen had a team-high three
goals, Hurley and Amanda Pollock each found the net twice, with Hurley
adding two assists. Morgan Silva proved to be the Northstars' main
threat, with three goals and two assists.
Liverpool played Tuesday night at Oswego, and meets Baldwinsville for a
second time Saturday, not long after their snow-filled duel on April 5,
where the Warriors prevailed in overtime.
The Post Standard, April 27, 2007: Liverpool Snatching the Close Ones This Year
Liverpool has a reputation to uphold.
The Warriors have won or shared four straight Onondaga League titles and
their hope is to be at the top of the Colonial National again this year.
Sophomore Jennifer VanderMeulen leads the team with 19 goals for Liverpool (6-2
as of Wednesday), who is ranked 13th in the state this week.
But just like last season, the Warriors have been involved in a number of
close games, including four that have been decided by one goal. Liverpool is 3-1
in one-goal games including an 8-7 overtime win against Baldwinsville in a
snowstorm April 5.
Liverpool coach Renee McKee said her veteran players are tough in tight
games. “It goes back to last year when we won all of our close games,” McKee said.
“A lot of those kids are back and staying focused (in a close game).”
Among the senior leaders are midfielders Tricia Hurley, who is ranked first
in the Colonial with 17 assists, Leah Lazarz (15 goals, 8 assists) and defender
Kara Kulba.
The Review, April 18, 2007--Liverpool Girls Hold Off East Rochester--by Phil Blackwell
As it rested for most of spring break, the Liverpool girls lacrosse
team gained some energy and avoided most of the bad weather. And the
conditions were nice when, on Saturday afternoon, the Warriors met East
Rochester, pulling out a 12-11 victory to improve to 5-1 on the season.
East Rochester was in front, 6-4 at halftime, but the Warriors rallied
behind Leah Lazarz, who paced her side with three goals and three
assists. Amanda Pollock also earned a three-goal hat trick, while
Jennifer VanderMeulen had two goals and two assists and Jordan Miller
also found the net twice. Tricia Hurley and Alyssa Renk had single
goals, with Hurley adding two assists.
Liverpool will meet up with rival Cicero-North Syracuse Thursday night at Bragman Stadium
The Review, April 11, 2007--By Phil Blackwell
Very quietly, far outside the spotlight it may have found at home,
the Liverpool girls lacrosse team roared off to a 3-0 start. It all
began March 24, in Ithaca, with a 17-8 romp over the Little Red. A
weekend trip to the Buffalo area followed, where the Warriors toppled
Lancaster 10-2 on March 30 and edged past Amherst 13-12 a day later.
Taken together, it marked the exact kind of start head coach Renee
McKee had hoped for as the Warriors made yet another assault on the
local powers-that-be in the Section III Class A ranks.
And no one holds more power than Fayetteville-Manlius, the reigning
three-time sectional champions, and Liverpool visisted last Tuesday
afternoon, looking for a signature win. But the Hornets prevented that
outcome, rallying in the second half and taking full advantage of a
short-handed Warrior lineup to prevail, 12-8. F-M is under new
leadership, as Adair Milmoe has succeeded Kathy Taylor. And the Hornets
no longer have the services of superstar forward Kristen Taylor, now
tearing it up at North Carolina.
Knowing all this, Liverpool didn't get fazed by an early 2-0 deficit.
Instead, it reeled off four unanswered goals as Katie Hurley, Casey
Wilcox, Leah Lazarz and Jordan Miller all took turns scoring. Liverpool
was still up 5-3 when, just seconds before halftime, Lazarz tumbled to
the grass and injured her head. She walked off the field, but did not
return in this game. Lazarz's absence would prove to be important.
WIthout her fine all-around game, the Warriors struggled on both ends
of the field in the second half, allowing F-M to charge out in front,
10-7.
And even when F-M was saddled with a three-minute penalty for a yellow
card, it managed just one goal, and watched F-M's Allie Primo seal her
team's win with a pair of late tallies. Wilcox led the Warriors with a
three-goal hat trick. Alyssa Renk had two goals and one assist. For
F-M, Mary Klepper (three goals, two assists) and Kate Bonsted (two
goals, two assists) led a balanced attack.
Two nights later, Liverpool was back home to face Baldwinsville, who
was 0-1 and without head coach Doug Rowe, suspended until the middle of
this month. For a half, the Warriors looked to be dominating--but it
had to hold on in the chilly conditions to beat the Bees 8-7. In their
first encounter since last year's Class A playoffs, Liverpool raced out
to a 7-2 halftime advantage, riding the hot play of Hurley, who piled
up four goals and two assists before the night was done.
Somewhere in the second half, though, Liverpool cooled off, giving
B'ville a chance to make its own surge. Led by Emily Maguire (three
goals), and Narissa Barzee (two goals), the Bees closed within one, but
could not catch up as Meagher made 21 saves to preserve the lead. Aside
from Hurley, Jennifer VanderMeulen and Amanda Pollock were the main
threats, with two goals apiece, as VanderMeulen added two assists.
At 4-1 on the season, Liverpool will rest for most of spring break, before returning to action Saturday against East Rochester.
The Post Standard, April 4, 2007:
Fayetteville-Manlius 12, Liverpool 8:Trailing by two goals at halftime,
defending Section III Class A champion F-M (1-1) rallied for nine goals after
intermission to thwart Liverpool's upset bid. Mary Elizabeth Klepper had three
goals and two assists for the Hornets.
The Post Standard, March 31, 2007: "High School Girls Lacrosse Preview"
Preseason Top 10: 1. WG , 2. Skaneateles, 3.CBA , 4. Liverpool, 5. F-M, 6. Carthage, 7. Cortland, 8.
Auburn, 9. ESM, 10. CNS
The Warriors return some experience at key positions, including
first-team all-league picks Amanda Pollock at midfield and Kara Kulba
on defense. But the Warriors are in search of a go-to scorer as they
graduated a large portion of their offense.
AA-1 Outlook: Liverpool (6-3), Baldwinsville (5-4), Henninger/Nottingham (4-5), Cicero-North Syracuse (3-6), Rome Free Academy (0-9)
Defending champion Liverpool is the front-runner. After graduating its
top two scorers, finding a reliable source of goals is priority one for
Liverpool. Amanda Pollock is the top candidate to take over those
duties. The first-team, all-league midfielder had 32 goals and 31
assists last year. The return of all-league defender Kara Kulba and
promising goalie Michaela Meagher should help shore up a Liverpool
defense that allowed 12 goals per game last spring. The Warriors have
shared or won outright four consecutive league titles.
The Ithaca Journal, February 26, 2007
The Liverpool tandem of Amanda Pollock and Jennifer VanDermuelen
combined for 15 points, leading the Warriors to a 17-8 victory over
Ithaca High on Saturday afternoon in a girls' lacrosse game at
Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. Pollock had four goals and four assists,
while VanDermue-len finished with four goals and three assists. The
Little Red played Liverpool tough early on, but the visitors had a
strong run at the end of the first half to take an 11-3 lead at the
intermission.
"We came out and played them real strong for the first, like 15 minutes,” IHS
coach Lyn Reitenbach said. “It was real tight. And then they cracked it open.
But (I was) very proud of my very young and very scared team.”
It was a
stern test for the Little Red, as Section 3 is arguably the best section for
lacrosse in New York. Marley Ciferri scored five goals, and Rebecca Schmoys stopped 17 shots for
IHS.
“You can't fault a kid that has 17 saves,” Reitenbach said. “Clearly, if she
hadn't stopped any number of those it would have been even more lop- sided. The
goals they had, they were pretty much wide open shots.”
Still, the fact that Ithaca played Liverpool relatively even in the second
half was encouraging for Reitenbach.
“Mostly, for our first time out, with the vast majority of kids having never
played a varsity contest, we were really pleased,” she said.
Annalee Murphy, Cortney Ciaschi and Chelsea Hargett each scored once in the
loss. Tricia Hurley and Leah Lazarz both had hat tricks for Liverpool.
Ithaca (0-1) plays at Corning East on Monday, April 2.
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