By HUNTER O. LYLE
WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – After pushing the boulder up the Section VI mountain once again, the Salamanca girl’s lacrosse team ultimately saw it slip and fall back down to the bottom, leaving yet another championship game empty handed with a 10-7 loss to Eden/North Collins.
The Warriors are no stranger to the big stage. Over the past two years, Salamanca has become a perennial contender for a Class D banner, making the championship game in both 2024 and 2025. Ending this season with a 6-10 record before besting East Aurora 10-5 in the semifinals this season, the Warriors were back in the hunt once again for the third straight year.
“It starts with consistency. It starts from the bottom to the top. Our younger players in the modified programs are now benefitting from our success at the varsity side which only produces better talent coming up through the system,” said Salamanca head coach Jesse Mohr. “Consistancy is key all the way through.”
Their return came as a rematch. In the year since seeing the Raiders in last year’s title game, Salamanca earned another shot at Eden in the regular season, narrowly falling once again to their budding rivals 13-11, but earned a shot at redemption under the bright lights.
Although the Warriors earned possession first and stripped over a minute off the clock in their initial approach, however, the tide quickly turned against them. After gaining control, Eden wasted no time charging upfield and asserting themselves on offense.
Their first goal of the game came just inside the ten minute mark, with Kelsey Barrett sparking a lone drive up the middle and finding the back of the net. Under a minute later, she doubled down, notching her second score of the night before feeding Ava Martinez for the Raiders’ third goal of the night with 8:24 still remaining.
While the Raiders fought to maintain pressure, Salamanca struggled to push themselves beyond one-and-done drives downfield, often being turned away and forced back on a footrace heading the other way. Although they broke the shutout at the four-minute mark, with Amilia McComber sinking a free shot, the Warriors looked up at a 6-1 deficit after the first quarter of play.
“We had to adjust a little bit. It looked like we started a little further back (on defense) than what we wanted to, giving Eden a little bit of space,” said Mohr, “but we adjusted well into pressuring the ball, causing some turnovers and we got right back in the game.”
Heading into the second, Salamanca’s nerves began to calm, producing a more efficient and succinct attack. Staving off an Eden free shot early in the period, the Warriors then punched in their second goal of the night off a coast-to-coast drive from Myla Galante that found Leilene McComber spinning through traffic and flicking a shot past the goal keeper. However, the Raiders retaliation came sooner rather than later, with Hannah Jasinski scoring 30 seconds later.
Despite finding their best flow of the evening, scoring two more goals before the half, Salamanca’s defense failed to subdue Eden’s responses, allowing goals tick-for-tack as they entered halftime down by five.
To open the third, Salamanca’s momentum carried the Warriors early, with Amilia McComber notching her second goal of the afternoon just 15 seconds into the quarter. Then, their defense finally found a footing. With big saves in the crease from Liana Jimerson and a clustering, wave of Red and White swarming Eden every time they stepped inside, the Warriors muted their opponents, holding them scoreless over nine minutes.
Despite allowing a goal late – Eden scored with just over two minutes remaining in the third – Salamanca was head strong entering the do-or-die final period. And the results came quickly.
While the opening minutes of the fourth saw back-and-forth action, with both teams taking turns streaking up the field for shots on net, Salamanca once again drew first blood. After three and a half minutes had burned off the clock, Leilene McComber found the back of the net once again, firing a five-hole shot down range to cut the lead down to four. Just over a minute later, Kiera Bova trimmed it to three with a sneaky shot to the top corner.
“We took it one at a time. That was the halftime message, we weren’t looking for all of them at once but wanted to think of it as one at a time,” said Mohr. “Work hard for one and work harder for the next one.
All of a sudden, the Raiders were on their heels. Their only advantage, however, was the clock. Still staring down seven minutes of play, Eden immediately began hitting the breaks. Slowing their approach to a crawl, they patiently passed around the perimeter, shifting the defense without taking a shot.
Forcing into a frenzy, Salamanca swarmed, but were unable to repeat their earlier success. As their panic turned into missed passes and turnovers, their title chances drew further and further away and eventually, out of reach. As Eden continued to stall, the point of no return was inevitable. Despite a late surge, the championship once again evaded the Warriors.
In their final game of the season, five Warriors found the back of the net. Leilene McComber and Keira Bova both came away with two, while Amilia McComber, Maliyah Foster and Brielle Massagli all scored once.
“As a whole, it was a really great season,” said Mohr. “We’re losing one of our top performers in school history in Leilene McComber, but outside of that, I’d say it was successful from start to finish.”
