Ithaca seeking Section IV three-peat

Ithaca girls lacrosse is picking up right where it left off in 2019 after a year away from the field. The Little Red have won the last two Section IV Championships and have a chance to continue that streak this season following last week’s announcement stating sectionals will be held for the spring season.

After starting the season on the wrong side of an 11-3 game against Pittsford-Sutherland, the Little Red rebounded with a 13-5 win over Horseheads and a 10-5 win over Corning. While the opponents are familiar to Ithaca, a year away has limited how head coach BJ Bliss can specifically prepare for what other teams have to offer.

“It’s been really tough,” Bliss said. “We are a team that records all of our games, and we learn from those. We are also able to break down film and things like that. Not having a season last year and then, obviously, the restrictions in place this season, it’s been really hard to scout. In all honesty, we’re reviewing some film, but knowing that, obviously, players are different, and I’m sure schemes and sets and plays are going to be different.”

What helps when attempting to overcome the unknown is the immense amount of talent on this year’s roster, including five players committed to Division I programs. Alecia Nicholas and Mackenzie Rich are both committed to play at the University of North Carolina next year, Elizabeth Joffrey will be taking her talents to Colgate University, Quinn Howe is set to play for St. Joseph’s University, and junior Shea Baker is already committed to play at Boston College.

That level of talent is causing a ripple effect throughout the program, Bliss said.

“It means the world,” Bliss said. “They know the systems. They have brought a mentoring role to not only the younger kids that are on a team, but also all the way straight down to JV and even the modified program. So, to have those role models that are moving on to extremely high-caliber Division I programs, it means the world. We can trust them to work in practice with some of the younger kids on something while the coaching staff is with another group.”

There are seven seniors on the Little Red this season, and they’ll have a chance to bring a third consecutive Section IV title to Ithaca before they graduate. Though there will be no state championship this season, Bliss is happy to have the opportunity to get a season in, considering what the multisport athletes on the team went through earlier this year.

“[The soccer players] only had six games and didn’t have the chance to go for a sectional title and hockey was cut short,” Bliss said. “We’ve noticed some of that too, in the sense that we’ve had our first three games canceled and/or postponed due to other schools that were in quarantine. As I told the girls at one point, we’ll play in a parking lot if that’s what it means just to be able to play. So, we’re grateful for any opportunity that we can play.”

With championships come lofty goals when they’re able to play, but getting back to the high level of performance the Little Red are used to will take some time.

“We’re a program that has high expectations,” Bliss said. “I think as a staff, we honestly might have put the expectations a little bit too high to start the year. We’re getting back to some fundamentals, getting back to really working them through some basic things that they may have lost a little bit. But at the same time, I feel like every single half that we’ve played we’ve gotten better and better.”

That was the case on Friday night against Corning as Ithaca went into halftime with a 5-4 lead and then outscored the Hawks 5-1 in the final 24 minutes. They were able to do so even while missing star player Mackenzie Rich due to injury and a thinner roster on the team.

“We’re just like every other program that I’ve talked to in terms of our numbers are down a little bit,” Bliss said. “Some kids that have played before have chosen not to play due to various reasons, and I think that’s across the board. Not only in Section IV, but even Syracuse in Section III, Rochester in Section V, numbers are down a little bit. So, we’re not going to have our full complement like we had in the last couple of years of being able to rotate and field lines and things like that.”

The Little Red will be riding a two-game win streak into their three games this week, facing Owego Apalachin and Union-Endicott on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, then Elmira on Saturday. There are eight more games on the schedule before sectionals are set to begin June 7, when Ithaca will look for its third consecutive title.