A pair of early-season postponements meant that the Baldwinsville boys soccer team would play six times in the last two weeks before the Section III Class AA playoff pairings were announced.
As such, the Bees did not have much time to absorb the lessons of those back-to-back contests where it upended then-unbeaten Liverpool 3-1, only to fall to Fayetteville-Manlius 2-0 three nights later.
If nothing else, B’ville had a lot to work on in the defensive end following last Tuesday night’s wild game with Corcoran, where an early surge gave the bees enough cushion to beat the Cougars 6-3.
It was good that the Bees raced to a 4-1 halftime lead, because Corcoran, led by Juvar Carter’s pair of goals, kept on attacking all the way to the end, showing how much it had improved since a winless campaign in 2011.
To counter it, B’ville needed a big effort from Trevor Pauldine, who anchored the attack with a goal and three assists. Connor Lunduski scored twice, while Jake Gentile, Nick Gates and Jason Ekere also found the net and Ryan Mulligan recorded a pair of assists.
The first of those make-up games was Thursday’s visit to Auburn, a steady effort where the Bees shored up its defense and breezed past the Maroons 5-1.
By the time Auburn got on the board in the second half, B’ville was comfortably ahead, having moved to a 2-0 margin in the first half. More would follow as Connor Ross stepped up with a pair of goals, while Gentile, Gates and Evan Lavelle earned one goal apiece.
Back home on Saturday afternoon, B’ville met Utica Proctor, and tripped up at the expense of the Raiders, who improved to 11-3 on the season by beating the Bees 2-1.
Jesse Figueroa’s goal pushed Proctor in front 1-0 in the first half. Lunduski found the net in the second half, but Figueroa converted, too, and the Raiders clung to that slim lead the rest of the way behind 11 saves from goalie Refik Begic.
The Bees still faced trips to Oswego and Nottingham this week before closing the regular season Saturday at home against Cicero-North Syracuse.
In alumni news, a former B’ville star, Nate Bourdeau, announced Thursday that he is signing with the Syracuse Silver Knights. Bourdeau had 66 goals and 37 assists with the Bees and later starred at Boston College, leading the Eagles to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
