Stephanie Prentice had a quick message for her Cicero-North Syracuse squad before the start of the fourth quarter on Saturday: Play the program's brand of lacrosse.
With the game tied after three quarters, the message stuck with the Northstars.
"We put our all into it and played as a family," senior Marissa Doty said.
C-NS stormed into the final quarter and fired off a series of goals. It led to the Northstars riding to a 12-8 win in the Class A state championship game at SUNY Cortland.
The Northstars nabbed their first state crown in 28 years. The team clinched their first state final bid in 27 years on Friday. On Saturday, it was all about finishing the job to capture the program's third state trophy in their history.
"They had a dream and made it happen," said Prentice, who was almost speechless after the game.
Prentice was a player for C-NS when the team grabbed back-to-back Division I state titles in 1995 and 1996. She was also on the losing side in 1997.
In her first state championship appearance as a coach, even in a tight contest against Fairport, Prentice knew C-NS would cap the season strong.
"To be able to finish with them and have this opportunity … I'm just so proud of them," Prentice said. "They're great girls."
C-NS came out firing in the opening quarter. Elizabeth Smith and Doty recorded back-to-back unassisted goals to give their team a 2-0 lead in the first minute of the contest. By the end of the quarter, the Northstars were up 3-1.
The matchup gradually became intense and physical between both teams. C-NS, however, was sitting at a 5-2 advantage with eight minutes left until the half.
Then, Fairport put the gears in motion offensively. The team recorded three goals in a row — courtesy of Katie Mallaber, Ella Peers and Brenna Goss — to tie it at five apiece.
C-NS closed the first half on a high note, as Kaelyn Reid notched a goal for a 6-5 tilt.
The Northstars saw Fairport on April 1 during the regular season, which C-NS won 14-11. Despite C-NS being familiar with Fairport, Doty said the team pretended like they saw their opponent for the first time.
"We came in like we never faced them," Doty said.
That worked in terms of defense in the third quarter. C-NS held Fairport to just two goals in the third, but Fairport had an eerily similar approach defensively.
C-NS had a 7-6 lead with less than a minute left in the third. Fairport then tied it at 7-7 when Kate Patterson lofted a pass to Peers for the goal with 15.7 seconds to go.
Before the start of the fourth quarter, Prentice also had a simple message: "We came here to win."
"That was it," Prentice said.
The motivation in the final quarter shifted to C-NS without notice. The team notched three straight goals from Brooke Molchanoff, Gabrielle Putman and Natalie Wilson to give the Northstars a commanding 10-7 advantage.
"It was rough the first three quarters, but we came together and got really hyped to pull away," Smith said.
Fairport briefly made things interesting when Peers scored her third goal of the game to cut it to 10-8. C-NS, who was high on emotions in the final minutes, saw Wilson tally back-to-back goals to put a bow on the contest.
Prentice fondly remembered her state championship experience as a player. She remembers being alongside her current players when they started competing in youth lacrosse.
Fast forward to Saturday, and the dream of state supremacy is now a reality.
"I don't even have words. When we got on the bus and before we got off (at SUNY Cortland), we just had goosebumps," Prentice said. "I knew, back then, they were going to be special. Years later, they made it happen."
Smith, who had a big smile from ear to ear after the game, said she's looking forward to seeing the teams' state championship banner on the wall of C-NS's new gymnasium.
"I'm so excited and so happy for the team," Smith said. "We worked really hard."
Sophia Nesci paced the Northstars with two goals and four assists. Smith finished with two goals and two assists, while Doty chipped in two scores. Wilson recorded a hat trick. C-NS capped the 2024 campaign with a 19-2 record.
