The New Hartford Spartans and Whitesboro Warriors girls lacrosse teams hooked up at Don Edick Field in New Hartford today for the second annual "Shooting for the Cure" game. In what is becoming a growing tradition to rival the boy's version of the "Sparrior Cup", the ladies laced them up today under brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures.
The ladies met today not only to renew one of the hottest school rivalries in Central New York, but also to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation to fight breast cancer.
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Hundreds of spectators filled the stands at Edick Field, most of whom were donning the pink somewhere and the girls took to the field in special pink laden uniforms to show their tremendous support for the cause.
( Whitesboro and New Hartford girls teams " Shoot for the Cure".)
From the opening faceoff, the lady Spartans took full advantage of their home field and went on to top the visiting lady Warriors by a score of 18-5.
The home club jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 7 minutes as Mary Kate Edmunds and Lauren Elsenbeck each scored two goals and Theano Alvanos and Ashley Chanatry tallied one goal apiece in the early going to give the Spartans a commanding lead.
Whitesboro junior Emily Jweid scored an unassisted goal at the 10:22 mark of the first half to pull the Warriors within 6-1.
(Whitesboro's Allie Cady (pink) leaps and fires a second half shot for a Warrior goal.)
That ray of hope was quickly dashed by the ladies in black and pink however as Chanatry, Edmunds and Jessie Rys each scored a goal and Emily Miller netted two more over the next 6 minutes to send New Hartford to the intermission with an 11-1 advantage over the dazed lady Warriors.
The second half started out heavily in favor of the home team again as Chanatry, Edmunds and Elsenbeck reeled off consecutive goals and Emily Miller scored the next two (her 3rd and 4th of the game) to extend the Spartan lead to 16-1.
Then, in a perfect illustration of what "the pink game" is all about, the Warriors showed they had no intention of surrendering, no intention of giving up the fight.
(New Hartford's Emily MIller (right) attacks the Whitesboro goal as Warriors defender JoLene Paolozzi (left) hangs tough.)
Whitesboro reeled off 4 consecutive goals of their own as Fran Cotrupe, Megan Chapple, Emily Jweid and Allie Cady knocked home goals for the visitors to pull the ladies in pink to within 16-5 with 5:52 remaining in the game.
Emily Miller and Carol Faber scored two goals late to give the Spartans (2-0) an 18-5 victory over Whitesboro (0-2).
After the game, New Hartford senior Emily Miller, a 4th year varsity player told MHTS, "Our goal this year is to make sectionals for the first time in school history and we're off to good start toward that goal."
Miller, the daughter of Stu and Sue Miller, hopes to play college lacrosse credits her team's early success with their team chemistry. "We're all really close, we get along great and have fun on and off the field," Miller said.
(New Hartford's Lauren Elsenbeck rips a first half shot on goal.)
Lauren Elsenbeck, a junior who also downhill ski races and runs indoor track, believes the Spartans are on the right track as well. "We're passing and moving the ball better and it shows. If we can keep improving, I think we can achieve our goals," she said.
Rivalries aside, these two teams joined together at midfield following the game to celebrate their joint efforts on behalf of a tremendous cause. Congratulations to both teams, their coaches and parents on the wonderful efforts on behalf of cancer research.
Box Score
New Hartford 18 Whitesboro 5
1 2 Total
Whitesboro 1 4 5
New Hartford 11 7 18
Top Performers
New Hartford
Lauren Elsenbeck 5 goals, 1 assist
Emily Miller 4 goals
Marykate Edmunds 3 goals, 1 assist
Ashley Chanatry 3 goals, 1 assist
Theano Alvanos 1 goal
Kelsey Nackley 1 goal
Jessie Rys 1 goal
Whitesboro
Emily Jweid 2 goals, 1 assist
Allie Cady 1 goal
Megan Chapple 1 goal
Fran Cotrupe 1 goal
