Evidence from the last week of the regular season seemed to confirm that Baldwinsville’s girls soccer team had picked up confidence from pushing defending Cicero-North Syracuse to the wire in their 3-2 thriller on Oct. 9.
Back on home grass at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the Bees met the combined Syracuse city squad last Tuesday, and despite the Senior Night festivities as a possible distraction, B’ville had no trouble in this game, winning by a 9-0 margin.
By halftime, B’ville already enjoyed a 5-0 advantage, and it nearly got to double digits, spreading things around to a lot of different players.
Natalie Sweeney and Lauren Paul each scored twice, with Sweeney adding an assist. Haley Couchman, Tianna Coon, Addison Hornsey, Sydney Mangano and Shum Macie each had one goal, Macie tacking on an assist.
Hosting Auburn two nights later, the Bees had a far more stressful encounter, but thanks to Jade Gentile’s well-timed hat trick, B’ville still beat the Maroons 3-2 to complete a 13-3 run through the regular season.
Through a back-and-forth first half, the Bees remained on a steady course, and Gentile struck for the only goal in those first 40 minutes.
But a wild, exciting second half would follow. Michaela Breeze and Marissa Netti both recorded goals to give the Maroons a chance, and goalie Ally Nicolisi had a strong showing, too, with 12 saves.
Yet B’ville hung on because Gentile, finding her top form at just the right time, added two more goals, giving her three for the night. Couchman contributed an assist.
All of this left the Bees with the no. 2 seed for the sectional AA tournament, which had just eight qualifiers. Thus, it’s straight to the quarterfinal round, where on Thursday night at 5 p.m. B’ville faces no. 7 seed Fayetteville-Manlius, with the winner to face no. 3 seed Liverpool or no. 6 seed Auburn in the semifinals early next week.
