Over the next six weeks, the Rochester Knighthawks will be front and center on the local high school lacrosse scene as part of a new weekly series that will feature the latest news and notes, scores and stats of select games around the Greater Rochester Area.
This week’s High School Game of the Week pits the Spencerport Rangers against the Hilton Cadets in girl’s lacrosse action on Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the season-opener between the two teams.
Led by eighth-year head coach Patricia Condon, Spencerport enters the 2021 season after finishing the 2019 campaign with an impressive 15-4 record, including seven straight wins to open the season. The Rangers, who after Thursday’s game play their next four straight at home, have been idle since May 29, 2019 when they suffered a season-ending 9-8 loss to Canandaigua before seeing the 2020 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spencerport returns three of its key offensive players this season in senior midfielders Lily DePalma and Hailey Rooney as well as junior attack Livia Fedele.
A two-time Section V (Class B) All-Tournament Team selection and Monroe County All-League Second Team selection, DePalma is coming off an explosive 51-point campaign in 2019, including 31 goals with 12 assists in 10 games. She also scored eight goals from beyond the 8-meter arc.
Rooney and Fedele, both of whom are also All-League Second Team selections, each posted 10 points during the 2019 season.
The Rangers’ biggest loss offensively, however, came with the departure of former three-time team captain and 2018 team MVP Erin Coykendall, who led the team in all offensive categories during the 2019 season, including goals (48), assists (42), points (90), ground balls (55) and caused turnovers (58). She currently attends Northwestern University, where she recently led the Wildcats to the Big-10 Championship as a sophomore in 2021.
Ranked No. 22 by Inside Lacrosse, Coykendall was a four-time First-Team All-County selection in all four years at Spencerport and a three-time All-Greater Rochester honoree. Additionally, she was named a 2018 First Team All-State selection as well as a three-time Monroe County Divisional Player of the Year.
Notable Spencerport girl’s lacrosse alumni include Natalie Choate (UMASS Lowell), Emily Coykendall (Florida Southern University), Erin Coykendall (Northwestern), Kelly Mohan (Edinboro), Alexis Plouffe (Fredonia), Sara Roman (St. John Fisher), Camryn Sack (Duquesne), Olivia Schroeder (Niagara), Catherine Wall (Canisius) and Olivia Wall (Cornell University).
Hilton opens its 14-game schedule with two of its first three games at home with a visit to powerhouse Penn Yan scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Much like Spencerport, the Cadets have been inactive since closing out the 2019 season with a 21-8 loss to Rush-Henrietta on May 23, 2019.
Led by second-year head coach Mackenzie Swartz, Hilton finished the 2019 season with an 8-10 record, dropping two of its final three games after opening the year with win in two of its first three.
The Cadets return only a handful of players from 2019, including senior attack Sydney Carpenter, who put up 35 goals and 37 assists for a team-high 72 points in 10 games as a sophomore. Committed to attend Sienna College in the Fall, Carpenter was named an All-League First Team selection in 2019, which followed an All-League Second Team selection as a freshman in 2018.
Notable Hilton girl’s lacrosse alumni include Payton Cook (Mercyhurst), Amanda Hilderbrandt (Central Michigan University), Haley Mojsej (Robert Morris) and Rachel Ryan (Canisus).
Check back on rochesterknighthawks.com later in the week for a full game recap.