The second time around, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team was certain that it could make West Genesee work a lot harder than it did a month ago in a 16-3 defeat in Camillus.
And once things started Friday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, things were different – the Wildcats were better.
Doing close to everything right, WG overwhelmed B’ville in a lopsided first half, and though the final margin was 18-5, it didn’t reflect just how much the Bees struggled in those early stages.
B’ville won the opening draw, and patiently worked the ball around, but never got a shot off as WG’s defense forced a turnover. From that point on, it was out of the Bees’ control.
Goals by Marissa Hudgins and Taylor Collins 30 seconds apart began the surge. It was 5-0 before the Bees could use a time-out, but that did nothing to slow the Wildcats down, the margin doubling to 10-0 just after the 16-minute mark, which created a running clock.
By the time Hudgins hit her third goal in the waning seconds of the half, B’ville was staring at a 15-0 deficit, something it rarely had dealt with in any of its previous encounters with WG.
And it was 16-0 before back-to-back goals by Stephanie Roberts finally put the Bees on the board. Natalie Kaufman, Marjorie Dehm and Glory Johnson also got late goals, but WG was far out of reach as Elmer finished with five goals and two assists, with Riley Donahue adding two goals and five assists. Grace Osterdale also scored three times.
Rain and winds pushed B’ville’s game with Oswego back 24 hours, to Wednesday night, and while it remained wet, the Bees earned its fifth consecutive victory, handling the Buccaneers 16-4.
During a dominant first half, B’ville doused Oswego with 13 goals, allowing it to go deep into its bench during the game’s latter stages so it could conserve energy for West Genesee.
Gebhardt proved tough to top, scoring three times and adding five assists, while Dehm had a team-high four goals. Johnson and Kylee Scott each scored twice as Roberts and Andrea Walker both had a goal and two assists. Erin Nagle, Mackenzie Porch and Alex Leo also found the scoring column.
B’ville would, after the loss to West Genesee, face a gauntlet of four games next week, including a big battle with Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday and a trip to Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday, this following contests against Central Square and Auburn.
