Ithaca High School lacrosse had prided itself on maintaining a consistent presence in the New York State tournament. But for the past 15 years, there’s only been one time in which both the boys and girls lacrosse teams won Section IV titles and competed in the state tourney in the same year, last occurring in 2018.
This time around, the double was back in store in I-Town.
Over the course of two days in Horseheads, both Little Red teams captured the Class A crown with victories over rivals Corning. The girls team was up first on May 29 against the Hawks, where they came away with an 18-9 victory. The triumph marked the fourth straight sectional title for the Little Red, prevailing in Class B in 2023 and 2024 against Horseheads before moving back up to Class A and taking down Corning twice.
Emma Bakos is one of four players—along with fellow seniors Kate Thomas and Taylor Kerber and junior Sage Bliss— who were part of all four sectional championships, and she pointed to multiple factors in the Little Red’s dominance in the section under head coach Kaitlyn Hoffay and assistant coach Chuck Little.
“I think our work ethic and team dynamic,” Bakos said. “I think we work really hard all season, and we do a lot in the preseason, too. We’re always in the weight room. We’re always at practice in the winter time. Making sure we have a good connection and dynamic on the team is what helps us the most.”
Bakos paced the Little Red with six goals and added an assist in the final. After playing more as a defender during last year’s historic run to the state semifinals, Bakos has moved up the field this year and has been a bigger contributor to an attack that’s flushed with talent, including Bliss and Kerber, seniors Natalie Wagenet and Skye Lee-Byrnes and sophomores Ava Fontaine and Sophia Steele. Not only has Bakos seen a tick up in her offensive output, there were other elements of her game she improved on this season.
“One of my goals was getting to 100 draw controls,” Bakos said. “Another goal was really just focusing on my confidence and my individual work. I think I have struggled with my confidence in the past year, so I really wanted to focus on that this year.”
Bakos and the Little Red’s season would come to a close on June 4 in sub-regionals against Section III champions West Genesee, falling 18-9. Wagenet and Fontaine each scored three goals for the Little Red as another strong campaign ended with a 13-3 record.
The boys team’s sectional title turned out to be a much more dramatic contest against Corning on May 30. The Little Red was down for most of the game but stayed within reach of the Hawks, trailing 7-4 entering the fourth quarter. But in a flash, the Little Red scored three goals in a 20-second span to tie the game up. After eight minutes of scoreless action, Isaac Lee-Byrnes emerged as the hero for the Little Red, as his strike with 12 seconds remaining sealed a victory for the ages and their first crown since 2018.
It was also a moment of vengeance for the Little Red, who lost to Corning 11-3 in last year’s final at Moresco Stadium. Lee-Byrnes and his teammates certainly did not forget that shortcoming entering the championship.
“I just remember Corning taking things away from us last year,” Lee-Byrnes said. “ I think all the emotion from that game was fueled toward this game. I told a few of my teammates that I wasn’t fueled by just winning another game. I wanted to have more time to spend with my teammates.”
Lee-Byrnes is a sophomore on a very senior-heavy team, 18 of them to be exact. The bond he shares with his older teammates is the backbone of the culture head coach Clayton Fickenscher has established over the last five years, one that has finally resulted in some postseason hardware.
“I think friendship is the most important thing,” Lee-Byrnes said. “We try to hit on every day. Coach Clay hits on it all the time. It’s so important to appreciate every single day. We’re all able-bodied and able to go out there and have fun with our friends, and I think at the end of the day, the most important thing is that we’re able to just go out there and have a good time and that we have a good enough environment to do that. I’m just so happy to be part of this program.”
Like the girls team, the boys team’s special season ended at the hands of West Genese, losing 15-5 in sub-regionals. The silver lining is that they got to play one final game at Moresco Stadium to cap off an unforgettable campaign. Five different players scored for the Little Red while Thomas Howley finished with a career-high 17 saves as Ithaca finished with a 15-4 record.
