Before it could proceed to the Section III Class A playoffs, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team had a small bit of payback to execute and a tough non-league opponent to challenge them.
The payback came in last Monday’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius, where the Bees dominated on both ends of the field in the early going and cruised to a 15-8 victory over the Hornets.
This was the same F-M side that stunned B’ville 10-9 at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium on April 16, just after the Bees had returned from its San Diego trip.
Now on the Hornets’ new artificial turf field, the Bees played more of its own game in the sequel, blazing its way to a 9-3 halftime lead so that, when F-M did threaten, it had a cushion and could withstand the push.
Kennedy Frink, in particular, stepped up, pouring in four goals and adding two assists. Maggie Monnat also found the net four times, while Claire Monnat and Sarah Klaben each had two goals and one assist.
Erika Wilcox and Taylor Pastore both picked up one goal and one assist, with Amari Pollard also scoring. Ashley Gentile added an assist. In the net, Andrea Moore had nine saves, negating the three goals put up by F-M teammates Marri Ryu and Grace Donahue.
Yet that didn’t even turn out to be the Bees’ biggest challenge of the week. That came two nights later, when Section V power Brighton visited Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium and fought hard with the Bees until the hosts emerged with an 8-7 victory.
Brighton, who pushed defending state Class C champion CBA into overtime in a 13-12 defeat just five days earlier, stuck right with B’ville through a 4-4 first half, and the tension continued deep into the second half, neither side able to break free.
The Bees never took the lead for keeps until Claire Monnat converted a free-position opportunity with less than two minutes left in regulation, her only goal of the night.
Klaben led the Bees with a three-goal hat trick. Gentile and Maggie Monnat both found the net twice, with Frink joining Claire Monnat in the assist column. Moore picked up eight saves.
B’ville’s regular season concluded with a 13-3 mark, two of the losses coming to West Genesee, though a third encounter might yet happen in the sectional tournament.
Both sides would only have to win once. With a no. 2 seed, B’ville has a bye directly into next Thursday’s semifinal at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium against no. 3 seed Liverpool or no. 6 seed Syracuse at 7 p.m. The other semifinal pits WG, the top seed, with F-M or Cicero-North Syracuse.
Meanwhile, the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team, avoiding a letdown from Monday night’s win over Cazenovia that ended the Lakers’ 33-game win streak, played the regular-season-finale 24 hours later and beat Syracuse East 15-8 at Henninger’s Sunnycrest Field.
Syracuse East blazed out to a 4-0 first-quarter lead. Sufficiently alarmed, the Bees caught up in the second quarter, gaining a 6-6 tie by halftime.
After a quiet third quarter, B’ville put together one of its best 12 minutes of the season in the final period, putting East away with an 8-1 outburst.
Luke Evans led the late surge, finishing with seven goals. Steve Petrelli backed up his pair of goals with four assists, while Joe Delia had two goals and two assists.
Ben Paprocki and Brian Smith each had a goal and two assists as Austin McCaskill and Ronnie Bertrand earned the other goals.
B’ville emerged with the no. 4 seed in the Class A playoffs and hosts no. 5 seed Cicero-North Syracuse Thursday at 5 p.m. The winner could get a shot at West Genesee, the 10-time defending champs, in Saturday night’s semifinal at C-NS should the Wildcats get past its opening round game with Central Square.
