it turned out to be quite an exciting Tuesday night for three different Baldwinsville girls fall sports teams, all of whom advanced to play for their respective Section III championships.
In field hockey, a magical season continued for the Bees as Lindsay Varga’s overtime goal gave B’ville, the no. 2 seed, a 1-0 victory over no. 3 seed Liverpool at Morrisville State College.
Over at West Genesee, the top-seeded B’ville girls soccer team also played Liverpool, also went to overtime – and also won 1-0, the game-winner coming from Emma Firenze after a frustrating 80 minutes of regulation.
Only in girls volleyball was there any real lack of drama, as B’ville smashed West Genesee in three games at the Baker High School gym to advance to next week’s Class AA title match – against Liverpool, of course.
For the field hockey Bees, the trip to Morrisville State ended an 11-day respite between the end of the regular season and the playoffs. Waiting was Liverpool, whom it had beat by margins of 2-0 (on Sept. 20) and 1-0 (on Oct. 14) during the regular season.
Between the familiarity with each other and the pressure inherent in the playoffs, it was perhaps little surprise that regulation passed without a goal from either the Bees or Warriors. For their part, B’ville defenders, led by Liz Ventura, Nicole Piontkowski and Emily Brissenden, stood up quite well as Liverpool only managed a handful of good scoring chances.
So it remained 0-0 heading into the 10-minute overtime period, where the teams go seven-on-seven. B’ville pressed hard, then found the opening needed as Varga, taking a pass from Paige Corso, deposited a shot past Liverpool goalie Tess Tracy to win it.
Now the Bees get set for the Class A final against defending champion Rome Free Academy, to be played Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium. RFA split its two games with B’ville in the regular season, each side winning at home, and blanked CNS 2-0 in the other sectional semifinal.
B’ville’s girls soccer team also had a heated encounter with Liverpool, the no. 4 seed, as they met in the AA semifinals in Camillus. Such was expected after regular-season encounters – one on Sept. 17, the other on Oct. 15 – that both ended 2-1 in the Bees’ favor.
All through regulation, the pattern remained consistent. B’ville’s quick attackers would wander into Liverpool territory, and every time the Warriors would offer up fierce resistance. The only good thing about it was that the Bees also were quite formidable on the defensive side, unwilling to give Liverpool many close chances.
Here, they would play 20 full minutes of overtime. Just 2:12 into the extra period, B’ville put together a series of crisp passes. The last of them saw Angelica Romeu give it to Emma Firenze, whose quick shot sailed past Liverpool goalie Tori Corsaro and into the net.
B’ville maintained that slim edge through the rest of the OT sessions, withstanding a pair of Liverpool corner kicks in the second extra period. And it means the Bees will face Fayetteville-Manlius Friday night at 5:30 at SUNY-Cortland for the Class AA title. F-M upset defending champion CBA 1-0 in the quarterfinals, then used a big second half to knock out Cicero-North Syracuse 4-1 in the semifinals.
The girls volleyball Class AA semifinal was over quickly. B’ville treated West Genesee, the no. 4 seed, like it had treated 16 previous opponents – by sweeping them. The Bees beat the Wildcats 25-5 in the first game, then claimed the next two games 25-17 and 25-18.
Brianna Stewart’s night included 28 assists, six aces and seven digs. A balanced B’ville front line included Allegra Bell picking up nine kills and three blocks, while Paulina Rein had eight kills. Emily Walser and Erica Miller each had six kills, while Sarah Klaben picked up four aces and Becca Maher contributed five digs.
In the Class AA final on Nov. 10, the Bees will get Liverpool, whose three-game sweep of CNS prevented the Northstars from getting a chance to have the championship match on its home court.
