This was the busiest stretch of the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team’s season – four games in six days, a chance to give all kinds of players a chance to stand out and to see what still needs to be worked on in the crowded regular season still to come.
It all began last Monday, when the Bees played its second game of the season at Onondaga Community College’s Murphy Field and held on to beat LaFayette 14-12.
Throughout the first half, B’ville countered the Lancers’ potent attack by constantly making its own charges, weakening the Lancers’ defenses and not letting up until it had a 10-5 lead at the break.
LaFayette nearly caught up in the third quarter, though, holding the Bees to a single goal and moving within 11-10 as Percy Booth, with four goals and three assists, led the comeback.
B’ville stayed cool, though, and held on largely on the work of Charlie Bertrand, who set a career mark with seven goals, half his team’s output, plus an assist.
And LaFayette couldn’t concentrate on Bertrand since Connor Smith was busy recording four goals and one assist. Jacob Anderson scored twice, with Ryan Gebhardt adding two assists. Peter Fiorini III had the other goal and Dillon Darcangelo managed an assist as Riley Smith, playing in goal, earned 11 saves.
Going to Auburn two days later, the Bees had a profound struggle, especially on the defensive side, where it could never contain the Maroons in a 17-7 defeat.
Auburn steadily worked its way to an 8-2 halftime lead and ultimately outscored B’ville in each quarter, getting five goals from Jack Burgmaster as Danny Entenmann and Kaiden Tubbert managed three goals apiece.
Unable to keep up, the Bees still saw Bertrand notch a three-goal hat trick by game’s end. Anderson again managed two goals, with Darcangelo and John Petrelli getting the other goals and Connor Smith adding an assist. Riley Smith recorded nine saves.
Now the Bees had to travel Friday to Fayetteville-Manlius, facing a defending Class A champion Hornets side that had lost three straight to tough foes – Jamesville-DeWitt, Liverpool and West Genesee – by a combined margin of six goals.
B’ville tried to extend that skid – but could not, falling to the Hornets 10-7 in a game where it fell behind 4-2 by the end of the first quarter and would spend the rest of the afternoon trading goals with F-M, but not quite catching up.
Just as he did against Auburn, Bertrand scored three times, while Fiorini, Anderson, Matt Abbott and Connor Smith had one goal apiece. Playing a solid game in the net, Ryan Smith had 10 saves as four different F-M players – Erik Badger, Griffin Cicci, Tyler Papa and Donovan Welsh – each scored twice.
This tough stretch ended Saturday with B’ville facing Watertown IHC, and this nearly got away, too, before the Bees rallied late to pull out a 10-9 victory over the Cavaliers.
Announcing its intentions early, IHC led, 5-3, after one period. B’ville’s defense settled down, though, and over the next two periods mostly kept the Cavaliers in check, though it only closed the deficit to 9-8.
But when it mattered, B’ville managed to shut out IHC in the fourth quarter, and notched the tying and winning goals, again with Bertrand at the forefront thanks to his four goals and two assists which overcame a tremendous effort from Cavliaers goalie Dan Grant, who had 19 saves.
Fiorini and Gebhardt both had two goals and one assist. Connor Smith added one goal and one assist as Anderson got the other goal. Darcangelo added an assist. In defeat, the Cavaliers saw Cole Carpenter notch five goals and one assist.
On Tuesday, B’ville takes its 3-3 record to a game against the combined Syracuse city squad, who entered at 5-0. The Bees host Liverpool (coached by B’ville alum Mike Felice) on Friday night.
