Corning’s road to a fourth consecutive Section 4 Class A boys lacrosse championship was somewhat bumpy, given a number of key injuries, some growing pains for younger players and a three-game losing streak late in the season.
Thursday night’s sectional final brought its own gut-check moment after a tenacious Elmira team scored twice in the third quarter to cut a three-goal halftime deficit to one. The Hawks responded with the resiliency they’ve needed this season, scoring the final three goals in an 8-4 victory at Corning Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity,” said Corning senior midfielder Chris Grimaldi. “I feel like in those situations all you can do is come together as a team and really just keep moving forward. It kind of brought us together and we really continued with that gritty motto ‒ one day at a time ‒ and we just kept going. Here we are today. It feels good.”
What It Means
Corning’s fourth consecutive sectional title is a streak that dates back to 2019. There was no 2020 season because of the pandemic. The Hawks have won seven Section 4 championships since 2014.
Second-seeded Elmira finished one of the best seasons in program history with a 7-9 record.
Stars of the Game
James Freeman, among the Hawks to deal with injuries this spring, scored a team-high three goals. Grimaldi added two goals and an assist, Clayton Smith notched two goals and Kale Lillico scored one.
Cooper Taft had three goals for Elmira, with the other Express score coming from Landon Cook. Ryan Stukey contributed two assists.
Turning Point
A goal from Taft with 4:23 to go in the third quarter was followed by a score from Cook just under two minutes later, bringing the Express within 5-4. The score stayed that way until Smith turned around in the air and blasted a low shot into the corner of the net with 6:55 remaining.
Lillico made it 7-4 with 5:18 to go and Grimaldi added to the cushion with 3:43 on the clock.
“We struggled all night passing, catching, ground balls,”…
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