Girls Lacrosse: Moore has Fox Lane looking for more

Foxes head into semifinals with 16-8 win over Mahopac 

Cora Moore controls in transition for Fox Lane. Zoe Stonecipher looks to make a pass from behind the goal. Amanda Griffin clears on defense for the Foxes. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN

It was time to pick it up, in a tight game in the playoffs, the ball bouncing all over the field, hitting about 10 sticks with both teams fighting for possession, until Cora Moore took control for Fox Lane.

Moore corralled the ground ball and a few seconds later scored, and the momentum was clearly with Fox Lane as the Foxes hosted Mahopac in the Section 1 Class B quarterfinals May 28.

Mahopac had scored to make it a one-goal game with the Foxes clinging to a 7-6 lead early in the second half, but the rest of the third quarter belonged to Moore and Zoe Stonecipher as the dynamic duo scored the next seven goals to lead Fox Lane to a 16-8 victory. Moore finished the third with four goals and she grabbed several ground balls and had two defensive takeaways, while Stonecipher controlled the draws and scored three goals in the seven-goal rally.

“We started out a little slow, but we all picked it up, especially off the draw when Zoe came in,” admitted Moore. “Defensively, we all played together, talked more, communicated all over the field, we came together as a team. We realized it’s sectionals and we needed to pick it up to move on to the next round.”

Fox Lane is the top-seed in the Class B tournament, but Mahopac came out strong and it was all tied up at 4-4 after the first period. Mahopac took the lead early in the second quarter, but Dylan New, Moore and Michaela Kaltsas scored three-straight goals to give the Foxes a 7-5 lead at halftime.

Then Moore and Stonecipher took over the third period and the Foxes never looked back. Moore finished with five goals and two assists to lead the way, while Stonecipher finished with four goals and two assists for the Foxes.

“She was all over the field, offensively, defensively, on the draw, she crushed it,” Fox Lane coach Jaime Williams said of Moore. “Cora and Zoe started to find their groove on the transition and fast breaks and it was a beautiful thing to watch. Mahopac came out fired up with intensity and played great lacrosse, and a lot of girls stepped it up for us and did a great job.”

After Mahopac had scored to cut the lead down to 7-6, Moore scored for the Foxes to make it 8-6 at the 9:07 mark of the third. Off the ensuing draw, the ball bounced off of one stick after another with both teams battling for a crucial possession. Moore finally scooped it up and scored at 8:08 to give the Foxes a 9-6 lead. Sara Renz came up with a big save in goal for Fox Lane and Stonecipher scored at the other end to make it 10-6 at 5:33, and then Stonecipher won the draw and Moore scored in transition at 5:19 as the Foxes started to pull away. Stonecipher scored the next two goals with Moore getting an assist, and then Moore scored with 17 seconds left off an assist from Stonecipher to finish off the dominant period and the Foxes in control with a 14-6 lead.

While the two big stars led the way, it was a team effort all around for Fox Lane with eight different goal scorers wrapping up the 16-8 victory. Dylan New scored two goals, while Kaltsas finished with a goal and two assists. Kami Boniello and Taylor Webb each scored a goal and added an assist. Maddie Barrett and Phoebe Fisher each scored a goal for the Foxes.

On defense, Renz finished with eight saves overall, including a pair of key saves in the third to halt any thoughts of a comeback rally by Mahopac.

With the victory, Fox Lane improved to 16-1 overall on the season as the Foxes now move on to the semifinals. Fox Lane was set to host rival Yorktown in the semifinals Saturday, May 31. The winner advances to the Section 1 championship game on Wednesday, June 4.