Ever since the Baldwinsville girls soccer team took that 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on Sept. 26, it waited for a second chance to go after the side it considers the main obstacle to regaining the outright Section III Class AA title.

Along the way, the Bees’ hopes of securing regular-season honors in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division improved when Liverpool lost, 4-3, to Fayetteville-Manlius on Oct. 3.

Now B’ville, no. 14 in the latest state Class AA rankings, could take the outright league title if it got even with the Warriors Saturday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium – and with no shortage of motivation, the Bees put together one of its best all-around efforts of the season, demolishing Liverpool 5-0.

As in any soccer game, getting the first goal is crucial. When Kaitlyn Kelly put one past Warriors goalie Megan Merrifield early in the first half, the Bees gained a momentum that it would never relinquish.

Late in the half, Hannah Mimas took her turn, scoring off a feed from Kelsey DeLola, and the 2-0 halftime lead only served as a starting point for the second-half fun to follow.

Mimas returned for her second goal, again assisted by DeLola, and then Hannah Johnson joined the fun, taking Simone Neivel’s pass and converting before a late goal by Madeline Bush, assisted by Carolyn Brussel, completed the effort.

On the other end, Brussel, Leah Burrer, Gabby Piontkowski and the rest of the Bees’ defense never allowed Liverpool’s potent sister tandem of Bri and Carly Kovarik to do much, and Meaghan Wilson stopped all 10 shots she faced.

Two nights earlier, B’ville hosted Cicero-North Syracuse, a match that caused a bit of concern because it only beat the Northstars 2-1 at Archie Hall Stadium when they met Sept. 21. Plus, the proximity to the Liverpool clash offered the possibility that the Bees might look ahead to that battle.

Any concerns quickly went away, though. B’ville smashed C-NS 6-0, starting to take over when Mimas scored a goal and assisted on Neivel’s tally in a two-minute stretch midway through the first half.

Leah Burrer tacked on a goal, and Mimas hit for the second time to make it 4-0. DeLola’s pass set up Leslie Brooks for the fifth goal and Kelly capped it off, her goal assisted by Brussel.

What the win over Liverpool did was help the Bees to the top seed in a seven-team sectional Class AA playoff bracket and a bye straight into the semifinals.

Thus, B’ville is off this week, awaiting to see who it would face in that semifinal, either no. 4 seed F-M or no. 5 seed Fayetteville-Manlius, who square off in this Friday’s quarterfinals.