Without a clutch turn from Mike Gaurdino, the Baldwinsville boys soccer team stood a good chance of taking its first blemish of the 2011 season.
Instead, Guardino, with a pair of big plays, helped the Bees escape a scare from Nottingham and pull out a 3-2 overtime victory over the Bulldogs Tuesday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
B’ville came into the game with a 7-0 mark and the no. 5 state Class AA ranking. But that mattered little to Nottingham, who used Almedin Bektic’s first-half goal, assisted by Azmir Husic, to inch ahead, 1-0, the only tally from either side in the early going.
The deficit got to 2-0 early in the second half when Bektic fed Semir Salkic, who slipped it past Alex Bono. And all this was happening despite B’ville getting most of the scoring chances.
Nottingham goalie Bior Ajak was sensational, finishing with 16 saves. But B’ville’s Jack Jeffery finally broke up his shutout, finding the net to cut the margin to 2-1, and then Guardino took over.
First, Guardino slipped a shot home late in regulation, tying it 2-2. Then, in the second of two 10-minute overtime periods, Guardino returned and fired home the game-winner. Blaine Drakee and Adam Lauko both got credit for assists.
In stark contrast to this drama, B’ville tore into Corcoran on Thursday night in a 9-0 romp two nights later, racing to a 3-0 halftime lead and adding six more tallies after the break.
Guardiano again found the net twice, while Ben Ramin had a goal and two assists. In all, eight different players scored, with Jeffery, Jake Gentile, Jon Price, Frank Vecchio, Maryan Yakyimiv and Tobias Hein also finding the net. Adam Lauko and Trevor Pauldine joined Price, Jefferey and Yakyimiv in the assist column.
B’ville is home twice next week, to face Central Square Monday and Utica Proctor Friday, with a trip to Oswego on Wednesday in between.
