SECTION IV GIRLS LACROSSE: OWEGO SEASON ENDS IN LOSS TO DEFENDING CHAMPS IN CLASS D TITLE GAME (2023-05-25)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Defending champion Whitney Point rode a 5-goal burst to a 13-7 victory over Owego in the Section IV Class D girls lacrosse championship game Wednesday.

With the score tied at one apiece, the Golden Eagles’ Jazlyn Leet converted a turnover into a close-in goal at 13:17 to put the Point ahead for good.

Brenna Bough tallied the next two, at 11:46 and 10:40, then Leet tacked on two more at 7:26 and 5:26 for a 6-1 advantage.

“Definitely not one of our best starts we've had this season, but we tried to hang with them and I'm proud of the girls for everything that they did, and how hard they worked the whole season,” Owego coach Ashlee Marsh said.

“Obviously, we didn't get the outcome we wanted, but we'll come back stronger next year.”

Autumn Hankey would put the Indians back on the board just 14 seconds later and Lexi Herceg found the back of the net at 1:47 to cut the lead to 6-3.

A Bough-to-Sadee Short-to-Laci Gates hookup with 14.2 seconds remaining in the first half made it 7-3, however, Hankey was able to beat the buzzer to make it 7-4 at the break.

Unfortunately for Owego, the Eagles came out hot in the second half with Genevieve Huston scoring at 23:59, followed by Gates at 23:46 and Leet at 21:03 for a 10-4 lead.

Hankey put one in goal for a hat trick at 17:27, but Leet scored her fifth goal of the evening at 10:23 to make it 11-5.

Oriah Boland got on the scoreboard for the Indians at 9:46.

Short scored at 5:42 and Madison McEvoy responded 40 seconds later to make it 12-7.

The Eagles added one final tally with 3:15 to go as Gates scored.

They also scored the game’s initial goal, by Short, at 18:30 and Herceg tied it at 16:53.

While the runner-up showing wasn’t what Owego had been working for all season, the Indians’ 12-4 record was impressive and clearly an accomplishment the players can be proud of.

“This is definitely the best team chemistry bond we've ever had,” Marsh said. “Just think about the fact that how bad these girls wanted this and they showed up every single day to practice, and they took the things that me and my assistant coach told them, and they tried their best

“Like I said, they showed up for not only us every day, but each other, so we couldn't have asked for a better team this year.”

Whitney Point (14-4) faces the Section III champion in the opening round of the state playoffs at Owego next Thursday.

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In PHOTO 1: Owego’s Autumn Hankey (L) ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.