In order to reclaim the Section III Class A title it won in 2013, The Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team knows that the road goes through West Genesee – the team, if not the location.
The Bees were scheduled to open 2015 last Wednesday night in Camillus, but waves generated by weather conditions rendered WG’s Field Turf unplayable, so the Wildcats had to move all of its season-opening games to other locations.
In the case of the B’ville game, that meant playing at Fayetteville-Manlius, where the Bees would prove tough and resilient in this initial outing, but not string together a long run of goals that it needed in a 12-7 defeat to the Wildcats.
Nine seniors graduated from B’ville’s 2014 squad, including Natalie Kaufman, Samantha Ward, Nicole Burrows, Lexie Pastore and Meghan Ward. But head coach Doug Rowe brings back a large returning cast, adding to the expectations.
What was more, West Genesee, the reigning state Class A champions, took heavy graduation losses, so there was a sense that, perhaps, the gap had closed – but the game displayed that much work remained for the Bees.
Grace Osterdale put WG on the board just 50 seconds into the game. B’ville’s defense, led by Lauren Paul, Jaclyn Hingre, Samantha Cannon and Kelly Pinkerton, clamped down from that point, and Sara Goodwin’s goal tied it, 1-1, at the 8:02 mark of the first half.
But WG’s Lauren Ferris answered just 29 seconds later, putting her team ahead for good. Then the Wildcats took charge when it netted four unanswered goals late in the half, accounting for most of its 8-3 margin at the break.
They played on even terms in the second half, but that required the Bees to get goals from Peyton Fleming and Marjorie Dehm in the last four minutes after WG’s lead had grown to 12-5. All told, Osterdale had five goals, while Mackenzie Baker produced two goals and two assists.
Fleming, a freshman, and Glory Johnson each had two goals to pace B’ville’s attack. Taylor Gebhardt had a goal and assist, with Goodwin and Andrea Walker earning the other goals, but a lot of other good chances were turned back as WG’s goalie, Katherine Widrick, made nine saves.
On Saturday, the Bees welcomed the Hockaday School, from Texas, a team whose coaching staff includes, as an assistant, Meagan Rowe, Doug’s daughter and a B’ville graduate.
Here, B’ville claimed its first win of the season by a 14-3 margin, steadily working its way to a 9-2 halftime lead as Gebhardt, who finished with five goals and two assists, led the charge.
Dehm landed a three-goal hat trick, with Johnson, Fleming and Walker each getting two assists. Goodwin and Alex Leo both finished with one goal and one assist as Julia Pelcher, Kylee Scott and Maria Penwood notched single goals.
B’ville, accustomed to long trips during the April school break, would stay in New York State this time around, going to Suffern Tuesday and Saratoga Springs on Wednesday before a non-league test Saturday against Cicero-North Syracuse.
