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By TIM IRVING
If Victor girls lacrosse coach Niki Frunzi had any concerns about her team looking past Pittsford to this weekend, they were allayed early.
The Blue Devils led the Panthers 7-2 at the half and won 13-3 to improve to 4-0 on the year.
The win comes as Victor prepares to travel to Connecticut to face Darien, the number six ranked team in the Nation, in a rematch of last year’s National Championship game, where the Blue Wave won by two goals.
Madison Mabbett and Olivia Bruno scored three goals each, two of the 12 seniors on the team and two of the 11 college lacrosse signees, Mabbett is heading to Mercer while Bruno will attend the University of Virginia.
Duke-bound Eva Pronti had six assists and Caitlin Keenan added three assists.
“The seniors this year have been playing since second grade together and they just have a chemistry, there’s leadership all over the field because of that, “ Frunzi said. “They’re starting to show more chemistry each time, which is awesome.”
Last season, the Blue Devils lost to Canandaigua in the Class B Sectional final and COVID wiped out States but in the Nationals, the Blue Devils beat the Braves in the semis to advance.
Frunzi said of not getting a shot at States last year, “the ’22 group has had that in their mind since second grade, so it probably festered a bit more after last year but if we follow plans and keep working hard, they can do whatever they want with that with their athleticism and skill.”
The trip to Nationals made up for some of that.
“It was a two-goal game and it was awesome, putting us on the map and they definitely had some confidence walking off the field with that one.”
The Blue Devils play at 3pm Saturday afternoon at Darien while Pittsford (1-1) hosts Fayetteville-Manlius.
Nice article on Victor Girls Lacrosse. I notice that Victor girls sports teams compete in AA and A ( large school) in all their fall, winter and spring sports except lacrosse where they are the largest school in the B Class. Do you know why that is? Seems like they should be in Class A like they are in all the other team sports they field teams in. I know Penfield chose to move up to Class A several years ago even though they could be in Class B in lacrosse.
Hi, Tom. The classes vary by sport to create a competitive balance. Penfield moved up largely because, even with them, there were only a few teams and they have rivalries with Pittsford and Fairport and for the same reason, Victor stayed down because Canandaigua is in Class B and they wanted to play them a couple of times. Brockport also dropped down to the C class so it was also most likely a question of trying to even the numbers out for Sectionals.
The other factor is that there aren’t any city girls lacrosse teams and with fewer teams, some of the traditional classifications are different, for instance, Aquinas would normally play up as well but remain in the lower class to balance the numbers.