BINGHAMTON – Section 4 and Section 3’s top girls lacrosse teams battled it out for a spot in the 2026 New York State Public High School Athletics Association (NYSPHSAA) girls lacrosse state tournament on Thursday at Chenango Valley High School. West Genesee (18-1), Fayetteville-Manlius (12-7), Jamesville-Dewitt (17-2) and Westhill (15-5), Section 3’s Class A, B, C, and D title winners this season, each managed to keep Section 4 out of the state tournament this year and will advance to the state quarterfinals.
Of the four Section 4 teams competing – Ithaca (13-3), Horseheads (14-4), Johnson City/Chenango Valley (11-6) and Chenango Forks (13-4) – Ithaca entered the opening round as the sole Section 4 competitor with experience playing in the tournament within the last three years.
While Ithaca held the crown as one of best girls lacrosse programs in Section 4, West Genesee rolled past the former state semifinalists 19-9, holding possession for the majority of the game and scoring 14 goals in the first half. Ithaca head coach Kaitlyn Hoffay saw this as a “similar” outcome of the two teams’ Class B state quarterfinals matchup, to which West Genesee showcased a notable offensive dominance that left Ithaca out of the state tournament in 2024.
“It’s always been a hard game for us; they’re a very talented program,” Hoffay said. “It’s just our goal every season to make sure we’re competing at this game and keep working at it.”
Johnson City/Chenango Valley head coach Mick Lombardini, who went from learning his athletes’ names at the start of the season to coaching the team to its first Section 4 Class C title since 2022, shared a positive outlook on the Warcats’ first season as a merged team, calling it “a complete success” despite the 21-6 defeat against Jamesville-Dewitt to end the season.
“I love coaching this team and combining two groups together was just the best thing for both programs,” Lombardini said.
“Yesterday was basically the only day that we had to even prep for a team like that,” Lombardini explained. “[…] and that’s the best team we’ve played. It’s amazing to be part of a game like that, even though it’s on the losing end.”
Horseheads and Chenango Forks, which also saw their first look at a potential state tournament berth since 2022 and 2019, experienced similar outcomes in the Class B and Class D subregional games, with the Blue Devils losing to Westhill, 17-6, and Horseheads losing to Fayetteville-Manlius, 18-4.
All four Section 3 teams will make their run at a state final four appearance in a state quarterfinals face-off on June 6 at Rush Henrietta High School: West Genesee will face last year’s Class A state champion, Penfield (Section 5), Fayetteville-Manlius will face Victor (Section 5)–the five-time Class B state champions, Jamesville-Dewitt will meet Honeoye Falls-Lima (Section 5) in a rematch from last year’s quarterfinals, and Westhill will play Penn Yann Academy (Section 5).
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Section 3 girls lacrosse teams stave off Section 4 in NY state tourney
Reporting by Aniya Sumner, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Aniya Sumner, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin | USA TODAY Network
