Corning edged Ithaca’s comeback bid Wednesday night with its own comeback story, winning by a 13-10 margin in the Division 4 Class A Girls’ Lacrosse Championship game at Corning Memorial Stadium.
Led by senior sensation Shea Baker, Ithaca scored five straight goals to cut what had been a seven-goal deficit to two with 13:38 remaining.
But Hawks senior Maddy Gill, playing his first game of the season after a pre-season injury, snuffed out the rally with his only goal of the night with 7:42 remaining and the Little Red never stood again. closer to two.
Talking title
Top-seeded Corning won the program’s first sectional championship since 2017 and denied second-seeded Little Red’s bid for a fourth consecutive title, with Corning being on the wrong side in the previous three finals. Corning was a 13-6 winner over Ithaca in their regular season meeting on April 28.
The championship was the seventh overall for Corning since the merger of Corning East and Corning West into a single program in the 2010–11 school year.
“It’s great to bring the title back to Corning for sure,” Gill said. “We had this date on the calendar all season and the team worked hard every day. We said the goal was to be here and beat Ithaca and we did it.”
Remarkable
Jenna DiNardo, a junior from the University of Virginia, scored six goals to beat the Hawks and Ashlee Volpe had four goals. Katie Grottenthaler scored twice.
Baker, a senior who will play for 2021 national champion Boston College, led Ithaca (9-7) with seven goals. Zola Vesci, Julia Blakeslee and Madison Sornerger each scored a goal.
Gill’s return provided a boost
Gill signed in March to play for Division I Niagara University. But soon after, she dislocated her patellar bone in her knee while taking part in a school theater production. She was cleared to return Tuesday and veteran coach Kevin Scanlon added her to the roster.
“I got cleared yesterday, went to practice, showed up and it worked out,” Gill said.
Said Volpe: “It was really nice having him there.”
Quotable
Two goals from DiNardo and one each from Grottenthaler and Volpe extended Corning’s 7-4 halftime lead to 11-4. Navigation seemed smooth until Baker let loose three straight shots in Ithaca’s five-goal streak.
“We were definitely getting nervous, but we had to calm down,” DiNardo said. “We got together and were like, ‘Okay, let’s relax. We are still standing, we have to play as we normally do. “
Following
Corning (14-3) will face the Division 3 champion in the state quarterfinals at 9 a.m. on June 4 at Ithaca High School.
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