Now that the milestone of Peter Firoini’s 400th career win was safely in the books, it was time for the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team to focus on the game and make its case as a contender in a wild, jumbled Section III Class A field.
And for three quarters in last Tuesday’s game at Liverpool, all was going well – but then the Bees fell apart on the defensive end and the Warriors took full advantage, forcing overtime and stunning B’ville 14-13.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Liverpool, just two years removed from a sectional Class A title, had started 0-6, and though it finally got into the win column, still carried a 2-8 record into the contest, nearly out of playoff contention.
From the start, though, the Warriors managed to hang close, tying it 2-2 after one period and, through the game’s middle stages, producing enough to keep B’ville worried, even though the visitors led 11-8 with one period left.
Playing with urgency, Liverpool flew down the stretch and took a 13-12 lead, only to have Steve Petrelli, who already had four goals and one assist, score in the final second of regulation to force it to overtime.
Liverpool won it in the OT period, and fittingly it was Dom Castiglia netting the game-winner as he finished with six goals for the night, with passes often coming from Matt Sala, who contributed two goals and four assists.
B’ville lost despite Petrelli’s heroics and a three-goal hat trick from Sean Barron. Connor Chapman had a goal and two assists, while Mitch Rein, Connor Smith, Cody Luke and Charlie Bertrand also scored. Dan Thomas made 11 saves, with Liverpool counterpart Kyle Halladay managing 14 saves.
Two nights later, in a game moved to Fulton because of all the rain that saturated the grass at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the Bees faced an Oswego side that had put scares into West Genesee and Fayetteville-Manlius the week before.
Angered by the loss at Liverpool, B’ville did not let that happen to them, beating the Buccaneers 13-9. A steady, productive attack helped the Bees take a 6-3 halftime lead, and it kept adding to that margin in the second half, thwarting all of the Bucs’ comeback attempts.
Chapman stepped up with three goals and three assists, while Petrelli got four goals and one assist. Bertrand and Smith each scored twice, with Rein and David Gullen getting the other goals. Luke, Barron and Sean Klein had one assist apiece, and Thomas, recovering from his struggles at Liverpool, recorded 14 saves.
Another tough road game awaited the Bees on Tuesday, as it would visit Auburn before hosting Rome Free Academy on Thursday night.
