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By TIM IRVING
Fairport girls lacrosse used three straight defensive stops to start the second half to beat Spencerport, 6-5, in a biting wind at Rangers Stadium Friday night.
The Red Raiders (2-1) took the lead as sophomore Katie Mallaber followed her own shot.
The Rangers (0-2) got the next two, Molly Guzik with an underhand shot and Livia Fedele in front of the Fairport goal to give Spencerport a 2-1 lead.
Ella Peers then went left and rolled back to the right for the equalizer.
Spencerport answered with the goal of the match as Guzik drove out in front and threw the ball over her shoulder and the Rangers led again.
Mallaber’s second of the game tied it but the Rangers were winning the ground balls, especially at the defensive end. Spencerport got a possession late in the half and the sophomore Guzik completed her hat trick with under 13 seconds to go for a 4-3 Rangers’ halftime lead.
“Spencerport always has great teams, they always have a couple of stud players you have to watch for and Spencerport always comes to play, “ Fairport coach Mara Karpp said.
With the cold temperatures, halftime was cut short but Karpp used it to her advantage.
“I think the first half, we didn’t show what we’re made of at Fairport, that blue collar mentality, be on every ground ball and work the hardest on the field, “ Karpp said.
So, the Red Raiders made three straight defensive stops to open the second half and scored off of all three.
Ava Peers converted an 8-meter chance to tie the game at 4-4.
Mallaber completed her hat trick, rolling right and shooting left to give the Raiders the lead, followed by a Lily Kondas 8-meter goal and a 6-4 advantage.
From there, Fairport left it to junior goalie Jaelyne Twomey. The Ohio State commit allowed only a Fedele goal in the second half and helped her team take the air of the ball for the final five minutes of the game.
“In my opinion, she’s the best goalie in Section V and one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie in the State,” Karpp said.
It’s been a telling start for Fairport, with wins over the Rangers and Penfield and a loss to only Victor, clearly one of the top teams in the State this season.
“Our confidence is coming from that loss.” Karpp said. “Victor is an extremely talented team and we were really happy with the way we played against them defensively.”
The Red Raiders are home this week against Schroeder (Monday) and Brighton (Friday) with a road game at Hilton Wednesday. The Rangers host Rush-Henrietta Monday followed by road games at Eastridge and Penfield.
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