Now, just as at the end of March when they first played, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team still find itself looking up at West Genesee.
For a brief moment, the Bees teased its fans into thinking it could reverse recent history, leading early in Friday’s showdown with the Wildcats at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium. But the Wildcats took over from there, getting away and prevailing by a score of 16-10.
Just as in 2011, B’ville has emerged this spring as WG’s primary local challenger through its 9-2 start. When the two teams met on March 31, the Wildcats prevailed 11-6, but left that game expecting a bigger challenge in the rematch,
B’ville lived up to that talk, at least in the early going. Ashley Gentile won the opening draw, and then raced down the field to put home a goal just 33 seconds into the game.
Emily Tripodi answered 57 seconds later, but the 1-1 tie didn’t last long. Maggie Monnat put the Bees back ahead, and Gentile’s second goal made it 3-1.
Past that point, though, WG’s experienced senior defense made things uncomfortable for B’ville the rest of the night. Madison Huegel (going to Syracuse University), Dana Anderson (headed to Le Moyne) and Shelby Milne (on her way to Hofstra) honed in and forced turnovers, assuring that goalie Andrea Francisco didn’t have to face too many difficult chances.
Offensively, the Wildcats used five unanswered goals in the middle of the first half to move ahead for good. B’ville cut the deficit to 6-5, but goals by Liz LaComb and Kara Datellas restored the margin to 8-5 as they headed to halftime.
After Claire Monnat’s goal early in the second half, WG clamped down again, holding the Bees without a goal for nearly 15 minutes, plenty of time to put the game away.
The Wildcats did so with a well-balanced attack. Tripodi, whom Elmer calls one of the finest passers in team history, had three assists to go with her pair of goals as LaComb had a team-best four goals and Datellas added three goals and one assist.
Due to a late offensive surge, Claire Monnat finished with four goals, with Gentile, Kennedy Frink and Maggie Monnat getting two goals apiece. In the net, Andrea Moore recorded six saves.
Before all this, the Bees had to avoid trip-ups in back-to-back games, starting last Monday with a trip to Fairport (no. 20 in the latest state Class A rankings), where a quick start led to an 11-8 victory over the Red Raiders.
Usually, a team making a long road trip struggles to find its rhythm in the early stages. Not so with B’ville, who roared out to a 6-1 lead in the first half before Fairport’s late surge closed the gap to 6-4 by halftime.
All through the second half, the Red Raiders, led by Danielle McKinnon (four goals), tried to catch up, but B’ville kept answering, getting clutch stops from Moore, who had nine saves overall.
Gentile and Maggie Monnat both scored three times for the Bees, with Claire Monnat adding two goals and one assist. Erika Wilcox and Taylor Gebhardt each had one goal and one assist, with Amari Pollard also finding the net.
Back home 24 hours later, B’ville disposed of Rome Free Academy 13-4. Much of the work was done early, the Bees storming to an 11-1 lead before resting the starters late, knowing what lay ahead.
Wilcox still had time to score four goals and add an assist, while Maggie Monnat had two goals and three assists. Gentile, Gebhardt, Taylor Pastore, Amanda Klein, Johna Kjerstad and Sarah Klaben got goals, too, with Klaben, Gebhardt and Klein adding assists.
At home all of this week, B’ville will get chances to regain some momentum through meeting Auburn on Tuesday and Central Square on Friday.
