Going by the calendar, it’s an even-numbered year, which must please the Baldwinsville girls soccer team, given recent history.
Both in 2008 and 2010, the Bees emerged as Section III Class AA champions. Now, in 2012, B’ville carried the top seed into the AA sectional tournament with every intention of making it three titles in five years.
B’ville hosted no. 8 seed Auburn in Thursday’s AA quarterfinal at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, and an aggressive attack, led by Cassidy Bruen, helped to overcome some late defensive lapses and produce a 7-2 victory over the Maroons.
Throughout the first half, B’ville kept itself settled on the back end, while it probed on the offensive side and got a couple of goals to move in front 2-0 going into the break.
To its credit, Auburn didn’t withdraw from the fight, getting second-half goals from Lexi Mitchell and Brooke Whitman, but Bruen and Emma Firenze combined to speed past the Maroons and lead a five-goal charge.
By game’s end, Bruen had found the net three times for a hat trick, while Firenze got two goals. Lily VandeValk and Elise Seifritz converted, too, as Jada Sargeant and Hailey Couchman each got one assist.
This puts the Bees into the AA semifinal, set for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Nottingham High School against no. 4 seed Fayetteville-Manlius, a team it beat twice in the regular season. The Hornets knocked out CBA 3-1 in its quarterfinal.
The survivor of the B’ville-F-M game gets Liverpool or Cicero-North Syracuse (who meet in the other semifinal, also at Nottingham on Tuesday) for the sectional title.
