Of all the strong wins the Baldwinsville girls soccer team picked up in the first half of the regular season, none was as important as that 1-0 overtime win over two-time defending Section III Class AA champion Liverpool on Sept. 18.
Jade Gentile’s overtime goal that beat the Warriors helped the Bees, for the moment, assume the favorite’s role in both the CNY Counties League and the eventual sectional battles, though the two sides will meet again next Tuesday at LHS Stadium.
Before that, though, B’ville had plenty of games to get through, starting with last Monday’s trip to Camillus, where a big second half produced a 6-0 victory over West Genesee.
For a long while, the Wildcats kept it close, trailing by a slim 1-0 margin at halftime. Sensing this danger, the Bees unloaded in the second half, and more importantly, didn’t lean on Gentile or Bella May to produce everything.
True, Gentile and May had goals, but so did four other B’ville players. Hailey Couchman, Laura Kick, Lauren Paul and Adrianna Sposato all found the net, with Sposato joining Mackenzie Schaffner and Carolyn Brussel earning assists.
Visiting Auburn on Thursday afternoon, the Bees bashed the Maroons by that exact same 6-0 margin, this time spreading out the production evenly with three goals in each half to overcome 12 saves from Auburn goalie Ally Nicolisi.
Gentile scored twice, but so did Cameron Scott in a breakthrough performance. May and Isabella Adjorin earned the other goals, with Schaffner and Kelsey DeLola earning one assist apiece.
Then, in a non-league game Saturday against Section II opponent Niskayuna, B’ville took the measure of the Silver Warriors – and suffered its second defeat of the season in a 2-1 decision.
This week’s action included a chance for B’ville to avenge its Sept. 9 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius Tuesday before facing Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday night.
