By S. Quinn DeJoy and J. Murrer

Jun. 8, 2016:  The girls' lacrosse team cruised through regionals last week, easily defeating Section 9's Millbrook 19-3 in the semifinals and Section 2's Scotia-Glenville 18-1 in the finals to win the regional championship. The No. 2 Broncos will head to states this weekend, where they will compete against No. 5 Skaneateles. It is the third straight trip to the state championships for the Bronxville girls, who lost in the semifinals last year. 

The Broncos have dominated Class C competition this season, defeating every team by more than 10 goals and outscoring their opponents 225 to 46, but competition at the state level will likely be a different story. Skaneateles won the Class C title in 2014 and could be a formidable foe. 

"Skaneateles is absolutely competitive," said Coach Sharon Robinson. "We are preparing for two competitive games. I think Skaneateles matches up really well with us. I think they are very strong and have a lot of fast midfielders, as do we." 

The Bronco team has four seniors and eleven juniors. Senior defender Taylor Sears thinks that the Broncos' schedule this season, which included games against very competitive Class A and Class B teams, has given them good preparation for the state championships. 

"Compared to our past trips to states, we are more prepared," said Sears. "We really haven't just stuck to our class this season, but have branched out to play schools like Somers and Yorktown. I think we are going to be more used to seeing the kind of game that we will see in the semifinals." 

If anything stands out about the Bronco offense this year, it is the depth of players who can score. In the regional final against Scotia-Glenville, juniors Ellie Walsh, Lucy Hanrahan, Mason Warble, and Olivia Jensen and senior Lilly Grass combined to score 13 goals in just the first half. The Broncos have also depended on sophomore Allie Berkery for strong offense. 

"Our strength is on offense," noted Grass. "I think that everyone is threat--there is not one girl that dominates on offense. Our speed in the midfield is beneficial." 

The Broncos will be missing junior Beth Finley, who tore her ACL in the sectional final, but with so many great offensive players on the roster, the Broncos will be able to fill her position. 

"It is motivating for us to play for her [Beth] because our hearts are just breaking," said senior Lain Miller. "We want to do everything we can to make her proud." 

The Broncos would not have made it this far without an outstanding defense. There are only four seniors on the team, but three of them, Miller, Sears, and Fallon Raviol, lead the defense, with help from Nan Carpenter and Gabby Amboss. Sophomore Claire Kraemer is a newcomer this year at goal but has played like a veteran. 

The state championships will feature the same four teams as last year: Bronxville, Skaneateles, Honeoye Falls-Lima, and Mt. Sinai. The Broncos lost to Honeoye Falls-Lima last year in the semifinals, but this year the brackets are switched so Bronxville (19-3) will meet Skaneateles (12-7) instead. If successful, Bronxville will face the winner of Mt. Sinai/Honeoye Falls-Lima in the finals. The defending state champion, Mt. Sinai, defeated Honeoye Falls-Lima 8-5 in the finals last year. 

"This team is awesome," said Coach Robinson. "I think we have awesome leadership. There is a really good spirit about this team. Our juniors are really strong; actually the whole team is strong up and down. We are excited." 

The semifinals will be held at SUNY Cortland on Friday at 2:30 pm and the finals will take place on Saturday at 2:30 pm. Follow the game on twitter @Szkolar_Lohud. 

Go Broncos. 

Pictured here:  The girls' lacrosse team after winning the regional championship against Scotia-Glenville.

Photo by Jane Ircha