Bruised SWR keeps title hopes alive

CORTLAND -- Quick, consult the rule book: Can a team compete if it has no players left on the field?

That's the question Shoreham-Wading River girls lacrosse had to ask itself as it withstood Syracuse-Christian Brothers Academy . . . withstood both the late-game surge and whack after smack after smash from a team that ended Friday's girls state Class C semifinal game with seven yellow cards, one red and five players down.

"I'm glad I wore my helmet," said SWR midfielder Alex Fehmel, who wears the protective gear after having suffered two concussions. "I think they were really hungry in the second half."

Fehmel, who took at least two sticks to the head in the 14-13 win, said she was relieved when the buzzer finally sounded. Not because of the hits (she finished with a slash on her right leg that had to be wrapped), but because CBA ended the game with six unanswered goals.

"People think the yellows are going to make the game easier," SWR coach Mary Bergmann said. "But it can be hard to keep composure."

Added Katie Boden, limping slightly on her previously-injured knee: "I think it was our incentive to keep our cool and play how we know how to play. We're not a very dirty team."

SWR ended the game with two yellows, a few bruises and a chance to play Honeoye Falls-Lima in the final at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

CBA coach Doug Sedgwick took exception to some of the calls. "They were doing the same thing," he said. " . . . But we couldn't beat [SWR] and the officials."

Bergmann, naturally, had a different view. "We have so many fast girls, so you make a quick move and the [other] girl is still thinking where she was," she said. "We tell our girls to play clean all the time, and that's the only thing you can do."