All was going well for the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team early in Wednesday night’s Section III Class A playoff opener against the Syracuse Cougars at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Not only were the Bees out in front, it was doing so with a potent attack that was flustering the Cougars at every turn. One or two more goals, and B’ville might have produced a runaway.
Then, in a matter of minutes, the splendid start was squandered, Syracuse roaring into a halftime lead and protecting it from there, Sean Eccles leading the no. 6 seed Cougars past no. 3 seed B’ville 12-9 to advance to the sectional semifinals against no. 2 seed Auburn.
These two sides had met once in the regular season, B’ville prevailing 16-11 at Corcoran’s turf on April 14. Syracuse remembered that defeat, but a month later, it looked for a while that the same result was in the offing.
Most of the first quarter was played on even terms, but just before it ended, B’ville seized a 3-2 lead. That momentum carried over into the early part of the second period as the Bees hit on three straight goals to make it a 6-2 margin.
But instead of putting things away, the Bees got put back in place by Syracuse’s attack, which sprung to life in a five-goal barrage late in the half that erased B’ville’s lead.
Trailing 7-6 at the break, the Bees saw things get worse, with the Cougars gaining a 10-6 edge before B’ville finally ended its long scoring drought.
That proved too late, though, as Syracuse held on down the stretch with a stingy defense that recovered from its early troubles and saw John DeMott prove sensational in the net, stopping 20 of the 29 shots he faced.
Just as importantly, Sean Eccles proved impossible to contain, getting more than half his team’s scoring total thanks to seven goals, plus an assist. Sterling Claflin added three goals as Matt Eccles got a goal and two assists.
On the Bees’ side, Charlie Bertrand notched a three-goal hat trick, adding an assist. Dillon Darcangelo and Jacob Anderson each scored twice, with Ryan Gebhardt and Patrick Delpha earning single goals. Peter Fiorini III added an assist as Riley Smith made 16 saves in the net.
B’ville finished its first season under head coach Matt Wilcox with a 10-7 record and will see several seniors depart, including Anderson and Matt Abbott. But stars like Bertrand, Darcangelo, Fiorini, Gebhardt, Riley Smith, Connor Smith and Matt Dickman give the Bees a lot of firepower for 2016, and it will be hungry to contend for a championship again.
