You can tell that the girls lacrosse program is improving. The Lady Dragons won three games in their first year as a team. The following season they won six.
This spring the girls have won four games in a row for the first time in their brief history. They have outscored O’Neill 7-6, Washingtonville 6-2, Saugerties 7-5 and Highland 15-4.
The Saugerties victory is a good measure of the team’s development. In past meetings with the Sawyers, the Cornwall girls lost 5-18, 10-21 and 3-18. The recent match showed how far the Lady Dragons have progressed.
Of course, the season has a long way to go and it’s too early to make predictions. But Cornwall has been playing consistently. The key to its success appears to be defense. The Lady Dragons have been stingy. They’ve allowed just over four goals a game.
Jess Gurrieri has stopped a high percentage of shots in the net, and her defenders have kept their opponents from getting clear looks at the goal.
The team was due to play Minisink Valley on April 21, but the contest was canceled because of wet grounds.
The boys have won four of their first six matches including an exciting victory over Saugerties on April 16. After being ahead for the entire match, the Dragons squandered their lead in the closing minutes.
They had done that in the season opener against Albertus Magnus. In that game their opponents finished strong to deprive Cornwall of the win. But on April 16, history didn’t repeat itself.
With time running out, Kevin O’Brien passed to Gabe Flaten, who netted the winning goal with just four seconds remaining. It was O’Brien’s third assist of the afternoon.
The momentum of the victory was not enough to help the team when it hosted Rondout four days later. The Ganders started strong and finished on top 18-4.
Overall, the Dragons are off to a good start. Ryan Vizethann leads the team in scooping ground balls; netkeeper Ryan Guild is averaging more than 10 saves a game. And defenseman Steve Carpenter has managed to score three goals.
Goals-assists: Flaten 13-11, Corey 7-8, Korycki 9-3, Lynch 8-0, Masterson 6-0, O’Brien 4-4, Vizethann 4-0, Emanuele 3-1, Carpenter 3-0, Clohessy 2-1, Ramos 1-0, Havey 0-1.
