SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — After a back-and-forth, competitive first half, the Queensbury girls lacrosse team could not overcome Sec. I’s John Jay Cross River in a sub-regional matchup in the Class C state tournament, falling 10-7 to the Wolves Wednesday night at Schuylerville High School in a season-ending defeat.

The Spartans raced out to an early, 1-0 lead when senior attack Meredith Montgomery scored a transition goal just 61 seconds into the match.

But John Jay quickly settled in on offense. After tying the game at one, Annabel Brennan collected a pass while drifting to the right of the cage, and shot across her body, netting a go-ahead goal at the 15:13 mark of the first half.

The Wolves tacked on another goal moments later to cap a 3-0 run, but the Spartans were ready with a response. Senior midfielder Kendra Ballard scored back-to-back goals going across the middle of the field; the second of which tied the game at three with 12:19 still on the clock.

John Jay countered with two straight scores to reclaim a 5-3 edge, but Queensbury took one back with just 36.5 seconds remaining before halftime on a free-position strike from junior midfielder Kaitlyn Barton, trimming the Spartans’ deficit to 5-4 at the break.

After both sides traded goals to start the second half, John Jay capitalized on a Queensbury yellow card, striking for two man-up goals, and growing its’ lead to a game-high three goals at 8-5 with 15:43 to play.

Ballard answered for the Spartans 80 seconds later with a top-shelf snipe for her fourth goal of the game.

But the Wolves rattled off two straight goals after that; the second coming from Margaret Puccio at point-blank range for the dagger at the 10:30 mark.

That goal put John Jay up 10-6, and the Wolves played keep-away for much of the remainder of the game. Queensbury managed one more late score, but the four-goal deficit proved too much to overcome.

Queensbury’s season comes to a close after garnering a fifth straight section title – this year’s coming in Class C after making a run to the state championship game in Class B in 2022. The Spartans end the year with an overall record of 15-3, and were a perfect 8-0 in league play.