Fox Lane lax women suffer first loss

Cora Moore scores one of her five goals for the Foxes. JIM MACLEAN PHOTO

By JIM MACLEAN 

Everything had been going just fine, a perfect start to the season, an offense on fire scoring 14 goals per game and heating up with 49 goals in three wins last week as the Fox Lane girls varsity lacrosse team improved to 7-0 overall.

However, perfection is hard to maintain in the world of high school sports, a lot can happen, a star player gets sick, and all of a sudden you find yourself shorthanded against a good team fired up to face the undefeated team.

That was the scenario for the Fox Lane girls varsity lacrosse team as the Foxes hosted White Plains on April 20. Senior captain Michaela Kaltsas, who scored her 200th career goal against Saratoga Springs, was out ill, and the Foxes struggled to score against the Tigers as White Plains prevailed with a 9-8 victory to improve to 7-2 overall, while Fox Lane fell to 7-1.

“That was a tough one, you could see the momentum shift when White Plains got the lead, they were fired up,” said Fox Lane coach Jaime Williams. “Give credit to them, they came out and played well and were moving the ball well. Offensively we just weren’t on today with Michaela out. I said to the girls, sometimes you learn more from losses than you do from wins, and we’ll bounce back. There is a lot more left to the season.”

It started out well as the Foxes opened up a 4-2 lead after Dylan New scored with 1:55 left in the first half, but the Tigers were able to grab the momentum scoring just 30 seconds later to make it 4-3 at halftime.

White Plains carried the momentum over into the third quarter, scoring four-straight goals in a span of three minutes to grab a 7-4 lead.

The Foxes tried to rally back as Cora Moore scored off an assist from Taylor Webb, and Webb then scored to make it 7-6 with just 38 seconds left in the quarter. Once again, White Plains answered before the bell as the Tigers scored with just 14 seconds left for an 8-6 lead heading into the fourth and added another in the first minute for a 9-6 lead.

Fox Lane rallied once again with Moore scoring another goal off another assist from Webb, and Moore scored her fifth goal of the game to make it 9-8, but the Tigers were able to hold on for the victory.

The offense was rolling heading into the game as Fox Lane had cruised to a 15-6 win at home over Niskayuna on April 18. Moore recorded her 300th career draw control, and she also scored four goals and added an assist. New led the Foxes with five goals, while Taylor Webb scored three goals and had four assists. Kaltsas scored two goals and had three assists. Phoebe Skinner scored a goal and Hadley Webb had an assist. Molly Rodriguez was credited with eight saves in goal for the Foxes.

The Foxes dominated Harrison two days earlier on April 16, cruising to a 17-3 victory over the Huskies. It was the third-straight game that the Foxes had scored 17 goals as Taylor Webb led the way with six goals and five assists. Moore scored five goals and added an assist. New scored two goals and had three assists. Madyson Greene scored a goal and had an assist, while also coming up with five ground balls and five caused turnovers. Ava Oliva scored her first varsity goal. Phoebe Fisher and Hadley Webb each scored a goal. Phoebe Skinner had an assist. Rordiguez was credited with five saves in goal. Isabel Valenzuela had two caused turnovers on defense.

Against Saratoga Springs on April 8, Fox Lane cruised to a 17-7 win as Kaltsas recorded her 200th career goal and finished with four goals and two assists. Taylor Webb led the Foxes with five goals and two assists. New had a hat trick with three goals and one assist, while Moore scored two and had two assists. Julia Sirchia scored two goals, and Hadley Webb scored a goal and added an assist.