Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse rally falls short in state semis

CORTLAND — The players on the Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse team easily could have written Friday off as not their day. With only two of 22 players on the roster in their senior years, this likely won’t be the final state tournament appearance for 90% of the Cold Spring Harbor players.

But the Seahawks didn’t do that, despite scoring only one goal in the first half and trailing by five goals with 16 minutes left in the contest. Cold Spring Harbor rallied to score the game’s final four goals but couldn’t complete the comeback as Skaneateles defeated the Seahawks, 6-5, in the state Class D semifinals at Cortland High School on Friday morning.

“We knew this was going to be a battle but we knew that we needed to play a full 50 minutes,” coach Danielle Castellane said. “So falling behind in the first 25 [minutes] and being down five goals, I think it’s a testament to the grit and the toughness that this team has to come back in the second 25 [minutes]. But it was just a little too late. We probably needed another minute on our hands.”

Ryan Reynolds scored two of her three goals over the final 10 minutes for Cold Spring Harbor, including scoring with 2:51 left to cut the deficit to 6-4. Maggie Spehr scored the final goal with 21 seconds left.

“They are never going to forget these moments,” Castellane said. “So yes, we didn’t win the game. We weren’t the better team today, but we’ll be back.”

Skaneateles (19-1) scored the game’s first four goals before opening a 6-1 lead with 15:59 left in the second half. Cold Spring Harbor finished 13-6.

Castellane thinks the state championship atmosphere will only help the young Seahawks roster for the future.

“I thought for a young team, we did well in high-pressure situations but there’s just a little more pressure in the state tournament,” Castellane said. “It’s a little bit of a different feeling, so I’m glad the young guns got the chance to experience that because we’ll definitely be back.”