Penfield Claims First Girls Lacrosse State Title with Victory Over Suffern

On the New York state's biggest stage, Penfield's defense submitted its magnum opus.

Since the NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse tournament began in 1995, there's only been six instances which the winning team held its opponent to three goals or less in the final. That's six times in 84 total games across 30 years.

Count Penfield among them. The Patriots suffocated Section I's Suffern in the NYSPHSAA Class A girls lacrosse final on Saturday in a 9-3 win at SUNY Cortland.

The secures Penfield's first state title in lacrosse, and cements the defensive performance among the best in state history.

"The team does a nice job recognizing other teams' tendencies," Penfield coach Dave York said. "We watched film from their semifinal game against Ithaca and noticed their players are consistently driving from certain spots. Our girls did a very nice job of shutting them down."

That Penfield is the last team standing in Class A should come as no surprise. York pointed to increasing championship totals among upstate teams from Section V and Section III (central New York), compared to the early days of the NYSPHSAA tournament which were largely dominated by Long Island teams.

The Patriots' potential was evident as far back as a few years. Penfield has been steadily building, finishing .500 in 2023 before a jump to 12 wins in 2024. Once the Patriots figured out how to escape Section V, the possibilities were endless.

"The tides are shifting," York said. "We definitely thought this was a possibility, maybe as far back as a year or two ago that it could happen at some point. Going into this season, it was either states or bust. The kids were hungry, thinking of what they needed to do to get there. It was 24-7."

No longer does Penfield have to lend credence to the hypothetical. State titles are written with permanent ink.

Penfield builds brick wall

Penfield averaged 5.52 goals against per game this season, which is the best mark in Section V (a tick better than the section's other state champion, Victor, which allowed 5.59 against this spring).

Early on against Suffern, though, it was the offense that controlled play while the defense found its footing. Senior Emma Alexander reeled off two goals in the first four minutes of the contest, and junior Reegan Sercu tacked on a third shortly after.

Suffern answered with two goals before the end of the first quarter, trimming Penfield's lead to 3-2.

That second goal was converted with 2:10 left in the first. The Mounties didn't score again until there was 2:10 left in regulation, a scoreless drought of 36 minutes.

The chances were few and futile. On the rare instance Suffern broke through the stingy Penfield defense, sophomore Karis Hand dutifully played her position (eight saves on 11 shots). "If we did get beat, she was there to bail us out," York said. "She's honestly our MVP of the state tournament for sure."

With the Hand-led defense brushing off Suffern's dodge-based offense at one end, Penfield was adding to its lead at the other. Only four goals were scored in the second and third quarters combined. All belonged to Penfield, specifically sophomore Avery Fordham .

Senior Jenna Capozzi tacked on two more in the fourth to put Penfield ahead 9-2, before a late Suffern tally.

Penfield could become frequent visitor to state tournament

One thing is clear: Whatever team represents Section V out of Class A has a great chance to win it all. The Rochester area now boasts two of the last three Class A state champions, and another finalist during the last three years.

While Section V should again present its fair share of competition in 2026, the road goes through Penfield for now. Leading scorer Peyton Rothfuss is only a junior, while important contributors like Hand and Fordham have two more varsity years remaining.

Also, as pointed out by York, Penfield's JV team has lost only three games in the past four seasons combined.

"Being able to have that behind the varsity and fill in what you need and make sure the talent is always developing, that's important to maintaining success," York said. "We have a lot of skill within the program and in the pipeline."

By the numbers

116 — Total goals allowed by Penfield this spring, the second-lowest total in Section V. Pal-Mac, which played two fewer games, had 114 against.

6 — Ground balls for sophomore Avery Fordham. That was a team-high.

7 — Players with double-digit goals for Penfield this season, led by Peyton Rothfuss' 64 and Jenna Capozzi's 49.

52.4 — Karis Hand's save percentage this season. Hand was the only Section V goalie to finish with a 50% save percentage or better.

Here's how the game unfolded:

Penfield vs Suffern: Game start

Penfield's Avery Fordham picks up the opening draw, and the Class A championship game is underway.

Penfield 3, Suffern 0: 6 minutes left in the 1st quarter

Penfield's Emma Alexander scored twice in the first four minutes, and junior Reegan Sercu just added another.

Penfield 3, Suffern 2: End of the 1st quarter

After Penfield scored the first three goals of the game, Suffern answered with the next two. Patriots had a couple tries at the cage in the final seconds of the quarter, but both shots miss wide.

Penfield goalie Karis Hand had three saves in the first 12 minutes.

Penfield 4, Suffern 2: 7:52 left in the 2nd quarter

After Suffern rings the pipe twice on their first possession of the quarter, Patriots restore their two-goal lead. Avery Fordham converted a pass from Jenna Capozzi.

Penfield 5, Suffern 2: Halftime

Penfield credited with the only two goals of the second quarter, both from sophomore Avery Fordham.

Suffern scored its apparent third goal with 1:50 left in the half, but it was called back as Madison Fay was fouled before the shot attempt. The ensuing 8-meter shot was saved by Penfield's Karis Hand. Penfield scored its fifth of the game a minute later.

Penfield 6, Suffern 2: 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter

Penfield's Avery Fordham has the only goal of the third quarter so far. Suffern has not scored since the two-minute mark of the first quarter.

Penfield 7, Suffern 2: End of the 3rd quarter

Penfield's Avery Fordham has the last four goals of the game as the Patriots start to pull away. Suffern's last two possessions of the quarter ended in turnovers, forced by Fordham and Riley Corcoran. Suffern has not scored since the two-minute mark of the first quarter.

Penfield 8, Suffern 2: 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter

Jenna Capozzi has the only goal of the fourth. Suffern has not scored in over 3 minutes of game time.

Penfield 9, Suffern 3: Final

Penfield submits one of the best defensive performances in NYSPHSAA finals history. This is Penfield's first state title.

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Penfield locks down Suffern to win first girls lacrosse state title