Brighton remained one of only two undefeated teams in Section Five with their 8-6 win over Pittsford.  The Panthers drop to 7-1 on the season.  In general, the contest was a great example of lacrosse in Section Five.  There was only one time during the game where the score was more than 2 goals apart.  Katie Lederman stood out for the Barons and scored the final three goals to secure the win late in the second half.

One of the defining factors in the game was the draw control.  Brighton finished 13/16 at the draw with Piper Davis continuing to dominate.  She finished with 3 draw controls and directly the ball on many more.  Rene Gangarosa grabbed eight of the 13 draws for Brighton.  Both teams excelled at their offense.  Pittsford finished with 11 regular shots and scored all six goals during regular play.  The Panthers were repeated sent to the 8m line in the second half, but failed to score (only 1 shot from the 8m line hit the cage).  All six of their goals were assisted, often off multiple quick passes in succession.  Brighton finished with 16 regular shots and also scored all their goals during regular play.  They finished with 6/8 assisted goals.

Brighton, having the lead for nearly the entire game, took large chunks of time off the clock when on offense.  They demonstrated confident passing and often made multiple passes in quick succession to keep the ball out of Pittsford’s hands.  In the final 3:35 stalled for nearly 3 full minutes, holding the ball from the Panthers.  Overall, the Barons controlled the pacing of the game.  Between their holding the ball and their dominance at the draw control, they gave themselves the time they needed and forced the Panthers to rush when given the opportunity on offense. 

Brighton’s riding attackman and midfielder also had strong games checking the ball away for the Panthers.  Attackman Eleanor Burns (senior) and Katie Smolensky (junior) both had great riding checks to keep the ball in their offense.  Defensemen Emma Gaenzle and Eliana Ontiveros-Oberg (both juniors) had caused turnovers to get the ball back into Brighton’s hands.

For the Panthers, defenseman Sarah Stark finished with 3 groundballs and 3 caused turnovers to lead the Panthers.  Stark had a late interception to break the 3 minute stall by Brighton and give the Panthers one more time at the cage.

Brighton scored the first three goals and set the pace for the game.  Rachel Wager scored the first goal off an inside feed from Burns only 0:14 into the contest.  Five minutes later and Caroline Lederman scored her first of 2g.  Caroline’s goal came off a loose ball on the crease.  Burns took a hard outside shot that hit the top pipe and bounced just outside the crease.  Caroline picked up the loose ball and finished into the back of the net on the rebound shot.  One minute later and Gangarosa scored her lone offensive goal off a feed from Susan Lafountain.  The Panthers called a timeout after the third goal to regroup.

Coming out of the timeout, Pittsford scored the next two goals to bring the game back within one.  Kyra Lucey scored the first goal.  Jillie Quevedo came upfield on clear with the ball.  She drove around behind the cage and found Lucey open after the defensive slide.  Two minutes later Elizabeth Blanding found Stark as she cut down the middle of the field.  The Barons came back with a goal of their own.  Burns was given a free position shot at the center of the arc.  She had Smolensky open on the crease without a defense and fed the ball down to her for the goal.  Each team added one more goal before halftime.  Pittsford’s Ellie Mooney scored fed inside to Heather Higgins.  The final goal was scored by C. Lederman with a feed from Smolensky.  Smolensky’s effort led to the most impressive goal of the game.  She drove to the crease from behind and passed off to C. Lederman for the goal.  Brighton led 5-3 at halftime.

In the second half both teams added three goals.  Pittsford scored the first two to tie the game for the only time in the contest (5-5).  The first was an inside feed from Blanding to Jenna Doyle.  The second began with a drive from Mooney to the cage.  Mooney got turned back and after spinning away from the goal, found Caroline Cullinan cutting behind her.  The game was only tied for 0:35 before K. Lederman scored the first of her three straight goals.  The first was an inside feed from Burns to K. Lederman.  Four minutes later she added another off a cross-crease feed from Smolensky.

Pittsford’s final goal of the game was scored by Higgins off a feed from Cullinan with 9:52 remaining.  The Panthers pulled the game within one, but could not get any closer.  The ball went back and forth over the next six minutes before Brighton called at timeout at 3:35. They began to hold the ball to run out the clock.  As noted above, they succeeded for about 3 minutes before Stark’s interception with about 30 seconds remaining.  The Panther’s cleared the ball and got the ball to Cullinan on the crease.  She fired a shot and Mary Claire George came up big with a save to stop the ball.  The Baron’s couldn’t control the ball and Pittsford got another shot; however, they missed the cage and did not get another attempt.