What began as a back-and-forth affair through the first half quickly turned into an offensive onslaught for the host Penfield Patriots, who erupted for six straight unanswered goals as part of a second-half surge to defeat the Spencerport Rangers 14-8 in girl’s high school lacrosse Thursday night.
Junior midfielder Elisa Faklaris was the difference yet again for Penfield, which improved to 4-3 on the season and have now won two straight. Faklaris, a 2019 All-League Second Team selection, recorded her second five-goal game of the season and added two assists for a team-high seven points while senior defenseman Haley Emmick scored three goals and junior attack Danyele Emler finished with four points on one goal and three assists.
Senior midfielder Celia Dow also contributed three points (2+1) for the Patriots, who have outscored their opposition 27-9 through their last two games and have claimed seven of the last eight meetings against Spencerport.
Senior midfielder Hailey Rooney, sophomore attack Isabella Buono and freshman midfielder Molly Guzik all scored twice for Spencerport, which at one point rallied from two separate two-goal deficits to knot the contest, including one in each half. The loss drops the Rangers to 3-2 on the season with each of their losses so far this season coming as the visiting team.
The two teams traded goals for much of the opening half with Penfield jumping out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to a quick strike from Faklaris and a pair from Dow.
Spencerport came back within one, however, capitalizing on consecutive penalty possessions to make it a 3-2 score before the Rangers eventually tied the game at 4-4 minutes later.
A total of three more goals would be scored between the two teams to give Penfield a slim 7-5 advantage entering the half.
Two quick strikes by Spencerport to begin the second half would again even things up at seven apiece, but a six-goal run shortly thereafter by the Patriots would prove to be too much for the Rangers to overcome.
Both sides exchanged goals in the final minutes, but it was Penfield outscoring Spencerport 7-3 in the second half to come away with a 14-8 win.
Penfield has a chance to extend its win streak to three straight games on Tuesday, May 18 when they travel to face Irondequoit while Spencerport has an opportunity at redemption when they face-off against Aquinas in a breakfast bash the morning of Saturday, May 15.
