Safe to say, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team did not like losing to Fayetteville-Manlius last Monday night, but used that bitter taste to sweet effect.
The Bees swept away the residue of that 10-9 defeat to the Hornets by week’s end, especially on Friday night as the Bees ripped through Liverpool in the first half and cruised to an 11-6 victory at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
That game against F-M was the first for B’ville since it returned from its trip to Southern California during the April school break. Prior to that, it had not faced a local opponent for nearly two weeks, and the competitive rust showed, especially down the stretch.
A day later, B’ville did rebound by beating the combined Syracuse city squad 16-6, but the real test would come against Liverpool, a team it fought hard to beat 16-12 at LHS Stadium back on April 4.
Though the Bees never trailed in that first meeting with the Warriors, it saw a 6-0 lead nearly disappear, the Warriors twice climbing within a single goal before B’ville pulled away in the late going.
Here, it would prove different, as the Bees sustained its high level of play throughout the first half, particularly on the defensive side.
Everywhere Liverpool’s attackers went, the back line of Sarah Lindovski, Emma Jeffery and Jessica Roberts followed, providing tight coverage and breaking up passes and shots. Just as effective, goalie Andrea Moore made five saves in the opening half, and nine saves overall.
So effective were the Bees that Andrea Flood, who had 23 goals in her team’s first seven games, got shut out here. Mary Fadden scored twice, with the Warriors’ other top offensive players, Mallorie O’Brien and Morgan Kline, managing just one goal apiece.
Meanwhile, the Bees’ attack was just as smooth, grabbing a 5-1 lead in the first 10 minutes as goals by Kennedy Frink, Taylor Pastore and Maggie Monnat began the getaway and forced the Warriors to use a time-out.
Even that didn’t work, though, as the margin grew to 8-2 by halftime and remained steady throughout the second half, even if the attack cooled off. In fact, B’ville made it 11-3 before Moore exited in the waning minutes and Liverpool got three meaningless goals against the Bees’ second unit.
Offensively, Claire Monnat and Erika Wilcox led the way, each scoring three times. Maggie Monnat managed two assists to go with her lone tally as Pastore got two goals and Ashley Gentile also converted.
B’ville plays again Monday, at Cicero-North Syracuse, and is back home Thursday to take on defending Class B champion Oswego.
