Even with a whole lot of new faces in its starting lineup, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team has raced out to a 2-0 start as the 2010 season warmed up.
The chief element in this process was Thursday afternoon’s impressive effort against Liverpool at Ray Middle School, where the Bees took out the Warriors 16-5.
Even under a first-year coach in Elizabeth Acee, Liverpool still has several starters back from 2009, when it pushed B’ville hard in the Section III Class A semifinals before taking a 10-8 defeat.
For this first encounter since that playoff win, the Bees, who had beaten Saratoga Springs 11-7 in its Tuesday opener at Herkimer County Community College, took control in the early going.
In barely five minutes, B’ville had a 3-0 lead as Maggie Monnat, Mackenzie Kjerstad and Sarah Clark took turns putting shots past Liverpool goalie Tess Tracy.
For the rest of the half, each time the Warriors tried to get close, B’ville would respond and play first-rate defense, forcing a string of turnovers.
About the only thing that went wrong was allowing Kristina Lombard to score one second before halftime, which cut the lead to 8-3. But Meghan Haney answered with a goal 34 seconds into the second half, and the Warriors never got closer.
In particular, Clark and Kjerstad teamed up to take Liverpool’s defenses apart. Clark finished with six goals, while Kjerstad produced five goals and two assists. Ashley Gentile had two goals as Claire Monnat and Maggie Monnat joined Haney with single tallies.
On the defensive end, B’ville’s back line of Amanda Ingersoll, Megan Collins and Lauren Roberts proved quite steady, and goalie Angeline Walker was superb, turning away 13 of the 18 shots she faced.
Two days earlier, the Bees’ season commenced at Herkimer County Community College with a solid showing against Saratoga Springs and an 11-7 victory.
With a host of new faces in the starting lineup, B’ville had its share of early mistakes, yet still led Saratoga 6-4 at halftime. That margin doubled in the second half, mainly based on a two-pronged attack.
Kjerstad, one of the few veterans in the Bees’ lineup, scored five times, while Clark announced her presence with four goals and two assists. Becca Guzzo and Samantha Yaro also scored, with Maggie Monnat joining Guzzo in the assist column.
B’ville will get a look at defending Class A champion West Genesee (who took apart Cicero-North Syracuse 21-2 in its opener) next Thursday at Wildcat Stadium in Camillus. Game time is 7 p.m.
