Penfield had seen this movie before: Up by a few goals in the fourth quarter, against the defending state champion.
That was the situation the last time the Patriots faced Cicero-North Syracuse when the teams met in their season opener. The end result for Penfield, an overtime loss, was a downer.
Offered a second chance in the NYSPHSAA semifinals, Penfield made amends. Now the Patriots will play for the Class A state title, after 13-10 win over C-NS on Friday.
This one, like the last matchup, had its uneasy moments. Penfield led by five goals midway through the fourth quarter, until the Northstars marched back to make it a two-goal game with two minutes to go.
“Yeah, that was a little bit of a flashback,” Penfield coach Dave York said.
But, as York noted, teams change over the course of a season as systems are added and adjusted. In the sequel, Penfield’s defense forced a change of possession with under two minutes to go. Such a play was absent last time around.
“We wanted that first game back. We kept it with us, it stuck with us,” defender Aly Welz said. “They shouldn’t have won that one, and we showed we wanted it more than them. Lacrosse is a game of runs. We had to stop theirs and we did.”
Awaiting Penfield is a potentially historic moment for the program. The Patriots have made two previous trips to the state final, losing to CBA-Syracuse in 2018 and West Genesee in 2012.
Next up is Suffern-I, a team that Penfield has no recent familiarity with. Beat the Mounties and Penfield is a state champion for the first time.
“We’re not thinking about that yet,” York said. “We want to embrace this win, because this win was huge. We’re going to enjoy this right now and then reset.”
Usual suspects shine for Penfield
By virtue of Penfield’s lockdown defense — the Patriots are averaging under six goals against per season — sophomore goalie Karis Hand didn’t see a lot of shots during the regular season.
That changed against C-NS. Ten minutes into the contest, Penfield was issued three consecutive yellow cards, putting its 5-2 lead in jeopardy.
Down multiple players for a few minutes, Hand limited C-NS to one goal during that man-down stretch, despite several scoring chances.
“I thought that was going to be hard for us mentally. As soon as I saw Karis make save after save after save, the defense was feeding off that energy,” York said. “We killed off one card, then killed off the second one. I knew we were going to be OK.”
While Hand held her own at one end, Penfield’s two leading scorers did their thing at the other. Junior Peyton Rothfuss and senior Jenna Capozzi combined for nine goals.
Rothfuss’ goals, in particular, came in crucial moments. She had the games first goal less than two minutes in, had the first goal of the second quarter (only 2:38 before half), scored with only eight seconds left in the third quarter, then delivered the clincher with 13 seconds left in the fourth.
“She’s the teammate you can count on if the team needs to get something done,” Welz said. “She lifts people up and makes them better. We can always count on her if we need a goal, if we need a ground ball, if we need a draw control. She’s all over the field.”
That much, to the Northstars’ detriment, was proven true.
Quote of the game
“She is probably one of the nicest kids on the team, very compassionate. But when she steps in goal, it’s all business. She’s the best communicator on the defensive end. Put that together with her skills — she’s quick, explosive and able to track the ball — that’s what makes her, her.”
— Penfield coach Dave York on goalie Karis Hand.
By the numbers
10 — Saves for Penfield goalie Karis Hand. That total ties a season-high. Hand also had 10 saves in games against Canandaigua and Victor earlier this season.
8 — Draw controls for Penfield. That’s the Patriots’ lowest total of the season, as the Northstars’ Gabrielle Putman owned the circle.
64 — Goals for Peyton Rothfuss. That’s tied for 10th-most in Section V.
0 — Lead changes. Penfield opened the scoring 1:57 into the contest on a shot from Rothfuss, and led the rest of the way.
8 — Girls lacrosse state titles for Section V. Penfield can join a club that includes Victor (three), Penn Yan (two), Brighton (one) Fairport (one) and Pittsford (one).
Here is how the game unfolded:
Penfield vs Cicero-North Syracuse: Game start
Penfield’s Peyton Rothfuss controls the opening draw, and the Class A semifinal is underway.
Penfield 3, Cicero-North Syracuse 1: 5 minutes left in 1st quarter
Jenna Capozzi has two goals already, the last as time expired on the shot clock. Penfield has possessed four of the five draws so far.
Penfield 5, Cicero-North Syracuse 3: End of the 1st quarter
Jenna Capozzi with three goals in the first 12 minutes for Penfield. Peyton Rothfuss and Emma Alexander also have goals. Elizabeth Smith has two of the Northstars’ goals, both on free positions.
Penfield 5, Cicero-North Syracuse 3: 8 minutes left in the 2nd quarter
Patriots survive a pair of yellow cards early in the quarter. A few huge saves from goalie Karis Hand, paired with some missed shots for C-NS.
Penfield 7, Cicero-North Syracuse 4: Halftime
After nine minutes without a goal, the teams combine for three in the final three minutes, including two in the final 15 seconds. Avery Fordham scored her first of the game, but C-NS answered with 0.7 seconds left as Sophia Nesci goes behind the back.
Penfield 8, Cicero-North Syracuse 6: 6:44 left in the 3rd quarter
Avery Fordham stops the C-NS run with a spin-o-rama goal.
Penfield 9, Cicero-North Syracuse 7: End of the 3rd quarter
Peyton Rothfuss scores with 8.8 seconds left in the quarter, her third of the game, to restore Penfield’s two-goal lead. C-NS had cut its deficit to one after Penfield failed to score on an extensive four-minute possession.
Penfield 12, Cicero-North Syracuse 7: 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter
Peyton Rothfuss, Jenna Capozzi and Olivia Lanning all score to start the fourth. Penfield now has its largest lead of the game.
Penfield 12, Cicero-North Syracuse 9: 3:30 left in the 4th quarter
Defending state champions making a late push. Northstars score twice in 15 seconds to cut Penfield’s lead to three.
Penfield 13, Cicero-North Syracuse 10: Final
Penfield hangs on to win despite a late charge from the Northstars. Peyton Rothfuss scores the dagger with 13.6 seconds left. Patriots will play in their first state title game since 2018 and third in program history.
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Penfield hangs on to beat Cicero-North Syracuse to advance to girls lacrosse title game
Reporting by Justin Ritzel, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / MPNnow
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