All was going as planned for the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team late in last Tuesday night’s visit to Cazenovia.
Having trailed by three goals at the end of the third quarter, the state Class A no. 16-ranked Bees had erased that deficit and, with one more push, were set to grab the lead against the Lakers, who have appeared in four of the last five state Class C championship games, winning two of them.
But it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, the Lakers, as great teams so often do, made the plays it had to make down the stretch, from two goals 26 seconds apart to key defensive stops, and B’ville had to settle for a 10-8 defeat.
Three days earlier, Cazenovia had lost, 16-11, to state Class A no. 1-ranked Victor. Now B’ville, who at 10-2 sported Section III’s best Class A record, arrived with a potent attack and an exciting presence between the pipes in the form of goalie Riley Smith.
Smith ruled the first quarter, his series of stops keeping B’ville close as the Lakers, despite owning most of the possession, got a single goal, from Thomas Bragg.
Indeed, the Bees frustrated Cazenovia not just with Smith’s work, but with face-offs controlled by Ryan Ingerson and a defense that, for much of the first half, kept the Lakers’ top scorer, Cole Willard, quiet.
Willard had just one goal in the first half, and B’ville overcame a 2-0 deficit by seeing Charlie Bertrand score twice in the second period and Ryan Gebhardt also find the net.
Tied 3-3 at the break, Cazenovia tried to assert control in the third quarter, twice getting the lead, but twice surrendering it to B’ville. Then back-to-back goals by Willard and Derek White, plus White’s conversion with nine seconds left in the period, gave the Lakers its largest lead at 8-5 with one quarter left.
Still, B’ville would fight back. Within a three-minute span, Connor Smith scored twice, and Gebhardt, assisted by Pete Fiorini, also converted, again pulling the Bees even at 8-8 with more than seven minutes to play.
Just at the right time, though, T.J. Connellan, Adam Race and the rest of Cazenovia’s defenders made crucial stops. B’ville never held the lead all night.
With 3:38 left, Willard, following his own shot off the post, beat Riley Smith for the go-ahead goal. Brice Basic won the ensuing face-off, and the ball was passed around until, with 3:12 to play, Bragg converted off a feed from Lewis.
Trying to make one more comeback, B’ville instead saw Cazenovia goalie Brenden Whalen make two big point-blank saves on shots by Bertrand and Gebhardt, moving his total to eight saves and preserving the Lakers’ win.
This loss didn’t hurt much – but a defeat at Bragman Stadium against Cicero-North Syracuse two days later may have left a scar, had the Bees not made a spirited comeback spearheaded by its defense to pull out a 7-6 overtime decision over the Northstars.
B’vile knew how tough C-NS was, having worked hard to beat them 10-6 a week earlier, so it wasn’t a complete surprise to see the Northstars get a 5-2 first-quarter lead. What was remarkable was the way the Bees responded.
Between them, defenders Ben Dwyer, John Petrelli, Patrick Delpha and Kyle Pelcher proceeded to hold C-NS to a single goal the rest of the way, and that good work paid off in the second half when B’ville made up that three-goal deficit to tie it, 6-6, and force OT, where Gebhardt put home the game-winner.
Only Gebhardt and Matt Dickman managed two goals on this night. Fiorini had a goal and two assists, with Bertrand and Connor Smith landing one goal apiece. Riley Smith made seven saves, but was well-protected as B’ville overcame 14 saves by C-NS goalie Hunter Dorgan.
Regular-season games still remain against Syracuse Monday and Fayetteville-Manlius on Wednesday as the Bees look to secure the top seed for the sectional Class A playoffs.
