Thirteen long years since it last climbed to the summit in Section III Class A girls lacrosse, the opportunity is ripe for the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team to go there again.
It wasn’t just because the no. 2 seed Bees, dominating the time of possession in the second half, defeated no. 3 seed Liverpool 10-7 in Friday’s Class A semifinal at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium. It was because of what took place after B’ville left the field.
In the other semifinal game, West Genesee, winners of the last six sectional titles and the reigning state Class A champions, was stunned by Cicero-North Syracuse 7-6, the winning goal coming from Hanna Haven with 38 seconds left in regulation.
So instead of the Bees having to again try and topple the Wildcats, it instead will face the upstart Northstars Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. B’ville and C-NS split their two regular-season contests.
Just getting to the Dome required, on B’ville’s part, a tough effort similar to the one it displayed when it beat Liverpool, the no. 3 seed, 9-6 in their only previous 2013 encounter on May 7.
Having not played in nine days, the Bees took some time getting used to cold, wet and windy conditions unusual for late May, scoring just once in the game’s first 12 minutes.
Trailing 2-1, the Bees started to turn it around when Abbey Foote converted to tie it, 2-2, and 17 seconds later Sarah Klaben found the net. They continued to trade goals until late in the half, when Taylor Gebhardt took over.
Gebhardt’s goal at the 18:38 mark gave B’ville a 5-4 lead. Less than a minute later, Gebhardt tried one of those behind-the back shots that head coach Doug Rowe said she always takes in practice.
This time, that shot found the net for Gebhardt’s third goal of the game, and Amari Pollard added a goal late in the half that put the Bees in front 7-5 at the break.
At that point, said Rowe, B’ville started to protect its lead. During the first four minutes of the second half, it held the ball, both in its own end and in the Warriors’ end, not letting Liverpool get any possession time.
Sarah Klaben scored to make it 8-5 at the 8:08 mark, but that margin nearly vanished as Liverpool cut the margin to 8-7 on goals by Morgan Kline and Lauren Mancini. Yet that Mancini tally would be the last time the Warriors would find the net.
Again, Gebhardt provided an answer, getting her fifth goal with 12:25 left. Rowe said that, late in the season, Gebhardt and Kennedy Frink really started to click on the offensive end, Frink picking up four assists on this day.
Just as important was seeing Foote dominate in the draw circle down the stretch. Three straight times, Foote won those draws, leading to long possessions that B’ville used to burn down most of the remaining clock.
Klaben capped off one of those long possessions by scoring with 8:06 left, and Foote won another draw, the Bees keeping it until the final minute, all but sealing its return to the sectional finals.
