While the Baldwinsville lacrosse teams concluded their respective regular seasons in vastly different manners, they both knew that what really mattered still was in the future.
And for the boys Bees, its playoff run would carry a particular poignancy, given the fact that, no matter what happened, head coach Peter Fiorini would step aside at season’s end.
Fiorini’s last Senior Night was a successful one as B’ville, hosting Syracuse East, overcame a slow start and, with a big second quarter, took charge on its way to a 17-2 victory.
East only trailed, 4-2, through one period, but any doubts about the outcome vanished when the Bees rattled off 10 unanswered goals in the next 12 minutes.
Connor Chapman, with three goals and two assists, led an attack where 12 different players notched at least one goal, with Steve Petrelli, Charlie Bertrand and Matt Klein each scoring twice.
Mitch Rein had a goal and two assists, with Kyle Terrell, Connor Smith, Kyle Akers and Tyler Gornick all finishing with one goal and one assist. Sean Barron, Billy Hamm and Jacob Hannon scored, too, with Luke McCaffrey, Ben Kaminski and Matt Brennan adding assists.
As much was going on with the girls Bees off the field as it was on it, the season ending with three consecutive defeats against tough opposition. That included last Tuesday night’s 9-7 loss to Brighton, who sits at no. 2 in the state Class B rankings.
Following defeats to Cicero-North Syracuse (17-14) and Fayetteville-Manlius (17-8) on May 8 and 10, the team had a meeting to sort out all of the problems that were festering, for it knew that such issues could derail any chance at a legitimate sectional title defense.
Then B’ville took the field against Brighton – but without Taylor Gebhardt, the team’s top offensive threat, who sat out due to illness. Understandably, the Bees’ attack suffered without Gebhardt, allowing Brighton to inch its way to a 7-3 halftime lead.
But instead of folding, the Bees played a superb second half, especially on the defensive side, where Samantha Ward, Lauren Paul, Lexie Pastore, Natalie Kaufman and Jaclyn Hingre contained the Barons and goalie Nicole Burrows made most of her eight saves.
But B’ville could not quite catch up, as Marjorie Dehm and Hailey Couchman were the only players to score twice. Glory Johnson, Andrea Walker and Kylee Scott had one goal apiece.
The girls Bees ended up with the no. 4 seed in the six-team Class A sectional bracket, knowing that a win over no. 5 seed Syracuse in next Tuesday’s opening round will mean a semifinal confrontation with top seed West Genesee Friday at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium, leading to the May 27 title game at the Carrier Dome.
That is just the first half of a doubleheader on Tuesday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
B’ville’s boys lacrosse side has the no. 3 seed in Class A, playing a quarterfinal against no. 6 seed Cicero-North Syracuse, with the winner to go to C-NS’s Bragman Stadium for Thursday’s semifinal against West Genesee or Liverpool. The final is May 24 at the Dome, facing off at noon.
