ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- There's at least one game to go this season and maybe as many as three, but Canandaigua has officially reached the top tier of girls lacrosse.
Oh, sure, the Braves have toyed with league opponents for several years and even climbed to No. 1 in state and national rankings this spring after a highly ambitious three-game, middle-Atlantic trip. But to be the best you have to play — and beat — the best. And in the Rochester area that's meant taking on — and taking down — Brighton.
And that finally happened Tuesday. Senior Alyssa Johnston scored with 10 seconds left in regulation and again on a free-position shot with 22 seconds left in the second overtime to give the Braves to an 11-10 victory over the Barons and their first Section V title in the girls Class B final at Aquinas Institute.
"Even after the Maryland trip (resulted in the national No. 1 rankings) we said, 'If we don't beat Brighton it means nothing,'" junior midfielder Taylor D'Amore said. "We've had fun this season but we knew Brighton was going to be waiting at the end."
Brighton has been the standard for excellence in the Greater Rochester area, having earned 11 straight Section V trophies and a 2005 New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship entering Tuesday’s final, but Canandaigua has been on a methodical climb to the top.
The Braves started playing as a varsity team in 1994 and built the program steadily. From 2004 to 2006, they went a combined 37-19, playing primarily a Class B schedule during the regular season and then larger schools in sectionals. In 2007, they were 16-4 but lost to Brighton again in the sectional final, 9-4. And an 18-2 season a year ago ended with a 14-8 loss to the Barons in the championship game.
"We were hoping it would happen," senior attacker Alyssa Johnston said. "We'd been planning and working from Day 1 on going as far as we could, and this worked out perfectly."
Johnston scored with 10 seconds left in regulation, then recorded the winning goal on an eight-meter shot with 22 seconds left in the second OT. It capped an arduous journey from a 4-0 deficit just 9:37 into the game.
In fact, Canandaigua (19-2) cut the deficit to one goal four times by early in the second half, but the Barons' Leah Cronister and Beatrice Conley connected for goals that opened it back up to a 9-6 lead with 11:48 to play. And senior Brenna Bauer's goal with 5:01 left gave Brighton (16-3) breathing room at 10-8.
Emily Zartman scored for Canandaigua with 1:04 left and it looked as though the Braves scored the winner at the regulation horn, but officials ruled Haley Marafioti's shot trickled across the goal line after time expired.
"We knew we needed to be patient and patience isn't our middle name," 12th-year varsity coach Sue Ellis said. "We love to 'run and gun' and it's hard for them because it's a different style of play for them. So we struggle with being patient."
But Canandaigua had justification for being confident about making up the early deficit and getting back into the game. The mid-April trip to Maryland saw Canandaigua play three of the best teams in the country — and fall behind all of them. They rallied to beat The McDonogh School, 12-10, and Good Counsel, 10-9, and fell short by a 9-8 margin to Sts. Stephen and Agnes.
The only blemish was a 13-11 loss May 1 to Class A powerhouse West Genesee, which now holds the honor of the national No. 1 ranking according to LaxPower.com while Canandaigua and Brighton stand sixth and ninth, respectively.
"When we got down 4-0 it was not the position you want to be in," said D'Amore, who finished the night with four goals, "but we've been there before against teams that were as good as Brighton. It's great we had that experience and it's why were able to come back against them.
"This is the year for us. This is the year, this is the team."
Next up for Canandaigua is a state quarterfinal on Saturday night against West Seneca West of Section VI at Brighton.
More Girls Lacrosse: West Genesee rolls on
* Junior Bre Hudgins scored the winning goal in overtime to carry West Genesee, the two-time defending state champion, to its third straight Section III girls championship with a 9-8 win vs. Baldwinsville, the school that had ended the Wildcats' 52-game winning streak earlier this year.
Hudgins scored three of her game-high four goals after halftime to advance West Genesee to a game against Section IV Class A rep Ithaca. In the first OT, Hudgins ran an isolation play and bounced in a shot for the eventual game-winner.
* Farmingdale beat Massapequa in the Section VIII Class A girls lacrosse final, 14-6, as Janine Hillier and Kelly McPartland scored four goals apiece. It was the fourth straight championship for half a dozen seniors, and all of the title games have been against Massapequa.
Boys Lacrosse: Corning East finally dethroned
* Corning East had its string of Section IV championships ended at 24 as Chenango Forks went on a 6-2 run over the final 12 minutes and beat the Trojans in the Class B final, 14-9.
All-American Matt Pratt finished with five goals and an assist in the win, and John DeOrdio added four goals and an assist for Chenango Forks, which lost twice to Corning East during the regular season. One of the losses was a 9-8 overtime affair in which the Blue Devils surrendered a six-goal lead.
Corning East never led and surrendered four man-advantage goals to the Blue Devils, who won 18 of 25 faceoffs.
* Silver Creek would seem to have a future based on who carried the load in the Section VI Class C semifinals. Even with only 10 healthy players, they upset No. 1 seed and defending champion Salamanca, 18-17, on John Jimerson’s goal with 16 seconds left in regulation.
Jimerson, a freshman, finished with four goals and five assists. Meanwhile, eighth-grader Zed Williams led Silver Creek with seven goals (giving him 68 this spring) and five assists. Zed’s brother, Zach Williams won 30 of 38 faceoffs.
Golf: McQuaid senior defends state crown
Dominic Bozzelli became just the third golfer to win back-to-back NYSPHSAA championships, firing a 3-under-par 69 in Monday's second round to triumph by five strokes at Cornell University's Robert Trent Jones Golf Course.
The McQuaid senior joins Dan DeLetka (1973-74) and Tom Scherrer (1988-89) as the only New Yorkers to defend titles.
Bozzelli, who will attend Central Florida in the fall, finished with a two-day total of 140, five shots ahead of Penfield junior Yarik Merkulov, who finished second for the second straight year. He began the day with a two-stroke lead over schoolmate Andrew Lane and took command with birdies at No. 7 and 9. Bozzelli capped a four-birdie, one-bogey round by making a 4 on the 545-yard, par-5 18th.
"I just tried to savor the moment on 18 knowing it was the last hole of my high school golf career," he told the Democrat and Chronicle.
Merkulov birdied five of his first 11 holes en route to a 67 and his fourth straight top-10 showing at the tournament. Lane finished in a tie for third at 146 as part of a Section V onslaught that saw seven golfers place tied for 14th or better.
Softball: Oneonta knocks out Susquehanna Valley
* Erin Wolstenholme and Sienna Wisse hit back-to-back doubles during a two-run fourth inning that carried Oneonta past Susquehanna Valley in the Section IV Class B softball quarterfinals, 3-1.
SV has won six state Class B championships since 1996 and defeated Oneonta by scores of 6-0 and 7-1 earlier this spring. Additionally, the Sabers inflicted a 21-3 beating on the Yellowjackets a year ago.
"We've come so far the past two years," Wisse told The Daily Star in Oneonta. "From getting beat by double-digits every game to beating SV -- they're one of the best teams we play. It's amazing."
Baseball: Aquinas wins marathon
* Ben Bostick lined a single to right field with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 12th inning to drive in Jim Buonaugurio and lift second-seeded Aquinas to a 4-3 victory against East Irondequoit in the Section V Class A baseball semifinals.
The Little Irish advance to play four-time defending champion Pittsford Sutherland, a 6-5 winner over Victor courtesy of sophomore Zach Salvia's walk-off single in the seventh inning.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
