With just one senior on its roster, the Baldwinsville girls soccer team may not carry the immense talent or large-scale expectations of seasons past.
But the Bees are still a prime Section III Class AA title contender and getting every opponent’s best effort, as last week’s action demonstrated.
Up against visiting Fayetteville-Manlius last Monday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the Bees controlled large portions of the contest, yet could only manage a 0-0 draw with the Hornets.
F-M had just played Cicero-North Syracuse to a 0-0 stalemate two days earlier, and now took aim at a B’ville side it was supposed to face at home Sept. 11 before a weather postponement moved it to next Thursday night.
During the first half, both sides effectively passed the ball around, but once it got into the defensive end, those opportunities dissipated, as even corner kicks and free kicks proved fruitless.
Then, early in the second half, Jade Gentile’s long run led to another corner kick on the left side. It got pushed into the middle, where several B’ville players had a chance to put it in the net, but somehow Hornets goalie Alex Lunderman held on.
The Bees never got so close again, either in the second half or 20 minutes of overtime, as every direct shot went right to Lunderman, who finished with nine saves.
F-M had its share of runs, especially in the second half and OT, but the combined work of Alyssa VanAuken and Mackenzie Hanna, who had 11 saves between them, kept the Hornets off the board, too.
In the other marquee game of the week, B’ville visited two-time defending Class AA champion Liverpool on Saturday night and never got into the argument, the Warriors taking charge from the start and handing the Bees a 4-0 defeat.
Twice in the first nine minutes, Liverpool scored off corner kicks as Emma Geyer converted with a header just 5:07 into the game and, less than four minutes later, Alexis Kline slid a low shot past VanAuken to make it 2-0.
Kline returned to get a third goal late in the half. By that point, Hanna had replaced VanAuken, and while she made a pair of spectacular second-half stops on her way to five saves, the Bees never could convert on any of its multiple chances, and Geyer tacked on a goal midway through the second half.
Between the twin markers of F-M and Liverpool, the Bees had a pleasant interlude in last Wednesday’s game against the combined Syracuse city team, winning by a 6-0 margin.
Scoring three times in each half, B’ville saw Gentile and Isabella May both finish with a pair of goals, with May adding an assist. Haley Couchman and Jordan Walts took turn earning goals, too, as the Bees knew that getting anything against Liverpool would prove more difficult.
The loss to Liverpool left B’ville at 4-2-2 at the midway point of its regular season, with a trip to Rochester Mercy set for Monday before the F-M makeup on Thursday and a Friday visit from Oswego.
