POTSDAM — A state finalist from last season, the Canton girls lacrosse team used their experience as an asset in a 9-6 Class D win over Section 2 Champion Schuylerville in the second of four regional championship lacrosse games at Potsdam High School Saturday.
The Bears were the only Section 10 champion to advance to semi-final action. In Class D boys play, Potsdam was denied by Schuylerville 11-10 in overtime while Massena teams fell to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in Class C action. The girls game ended in a 19-1 BHBL victory and the boys game saw BHBL outscore the Raiders 18-10.
Head Coach Murphy Liggo praised her team’s performance in the huge comeback win on Saturday.
“Every player gave their all on Saturday. We were not playing our strongest going into halftime, but once the game started again, our defense made some great stops, and our experienced offense lead the way.”
The Golden Bears consist of 17 players, with only two seniors this year, a big change from past teams. Captains Olivia Francey, Saige Blevins and Elena Abplanalp are looking forward to playing Penn Yan at 4:30 p.m. in SUNY Cortland Friday for the semifinals. If Canton wins, it will play for the State Championship on Saturday, June 13.
The team is currently seeking funding for their trip to offset travel expenses not covered by the school. This includes transportation, meals and possible hotel stays. Canton Girls Varsity Lacrosse can be found on social media (Instagram or Facebook), and donations can be made via Venmo or checks/cash to the Canton Golden Bear Booster Club with the memo of “Girls Varsity Lacrosse.”
Anyone wishing to support the team should contact Head Coach Murphy Liggio at (315) 323-7726 or email: murphynewman@gmail.com.
Canton 9 – Schuylerville 6: Despite outshooting the Black Horses 13-6, Canton came off the field at halftime trailing 5-3 in a contest which featured a scoreless first period. After forging momentum with a 2-1 advantage in the third quarter the Golden Bears rode four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to a second straight trip to SUNY Cortland for the New York State Final Four.
With Olivia Francey (10 draw controls) dominating the draws, the Bears (17-1) made the most of their possession advantage by freeing up attackers in front of the Schuylerville goal. The Bears’ defense stood firm and consistently shut down the deep passing lanes.
“We really stepped up our intensity in the second half. We went to the state finals last year and the girls knew what they had to do to go back,” said Coach Liggio.
Francey and Saige Blevins both scored three goals with two assists to lead Canton and Maddie Armstrong, Elena Abplanab and Delia Gaurin all scored single goals. Zadia Ann Gaurin made nine saves for Canton.
Peyton Delisle scored three goals for the Black Horses (15-5) and Juliette Letzring netted two goals.
Schuylerville 11 – Potsdam 10 OT – The boys Class D regional final saw Potsdam recover from a fourth quarter surge by Schuylerville when Quinn McGaheran scored his fourth goal of the game with 5:21 to play to tie the score at 10-10. But the Black Horses of Section 2 gained the overtime win on the strength on the fifth goal of the day by Hayden Peck.
Owen Koval scored four times for the Black Horses and Jenseon Brennan made nine saves in goal. Koval scored three times in a string of four straight goals which gave the Black Horses a 10-9 lead. McGaheran finished with four goals and two assists and Graham Shelly scored five goals.
Xavier Clookey tallied a single goal and Finn Murray passed out an assist to back a 15-save effort by Jack Fahy in goal.
BHBL 18 – Massena 10: After BHBL’s Logan Tomlinson scored the first three goals of the game, the Raiders (17-3) stabilized the flow of the game and took an 8-7 lead on a goal by Hunter Smith. BHBL (15-5) regrouped to take a 10-8 halftime lead and pulled away with an 8-2 margin in the third and fourth quarters.
Thomlinson sniped home seven goals with four assists and Talon Imerell (2 assists) and Travis Rorick (1 assist) both scored four goals as the Spartans overcame 24 saves by Massena goalie Keegan Stowell. Ethan Skinner maded seven saves for BHBL
Drew Smutz (5-2) scored four goals with one assist and sparked a second quarter surge by Massena and Houston Johnson scored twice. Drystan Cole, Hunter Smith and Tristan General all delivered one goal and one assist.
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