Much of Baldwinsville’s recent field hockey history involved getting a decent amount of wins, but rarely breaking through against other established powerhouses.
However, the Bees, whose last Section III Class A title came in 2010, may have started to turn that around, as evidenced by the fact that it beat long-time antagonist Liverpool by a 2-1 margin in last Wednesday afternoon’s season opener.
It helped that B’ville, coached by Tessa Ordway, was playing on its home grass, and not the artificial surface to which the Warriors is accustomed. Despite this, Brianna Socker’s unassisted goal in the first half left the Bees staring at a 1-0 deficit at the break.
Unfazed by this, B’ville increased its pressure on Liverpool goalie Megan Evangelista, who would finish with eight saves, and stayed patient. Then, in the final 11 minutes, it put in the tying and go-ahead goals, and managed to hang on to win.
Jade Earle and Amanda Strenk finished with those goals, while Alyssa Bell, Kelly Bergamo and Mackenzie Kimball got one assist apiece. The Bees’ defense did a terrific job protecting goalie Kaitlyn Gee, who only had to make three saves.
With another chance to make a big home statement against Cicero-North Syracuse on a hot Friday afternoon, the Bees pulled it off, going to overtime to beat the Northstars 1-0.
Through 60 minutes of regulation, B’ville and C-NS slugged it out without either side getting on the board. Much of the time, the Bees were in a defensive mode, desperate to keep the Northstars out, and pulling it off because Gee was sensational, stopping all 16 shots she faced.
Once the seven-on-seven OT period started, B’ville, stalled in its attack throughout the match, got more room to operate. And it led to an open look where Earle, taking a pass from Hannah Wood, poked the ball past C-NS goalie Julia Lantry to end it.
Now comes the larger question – whether B’ville can maintain this magic on turf, a question the Bees won’t answer until Saturday’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius, which follows a Tuesday visit from Homer.
