So the task in front of the Baldwinsville field hockey team was a simple, yet daunting one – knock off the top two seeds in the Section III Class A playoffs, and do so on each of their home fields.
The no. 3 seed Bees pulled off the first part of this equation Monday night, venturing to no. 2 seed Liverpool and defeating the Warriors 2-1, with both goals coming in a frenzied second half plus some stellar defensive play down the stretch to protect that lead.
It earned, for B’ville, a shot at top seed Fayetteville-Manlius in Sunday’s sectional final, played on F-M’s home turf at 3 p.m. The Hornets used a trio of second-half goals to knock off no. 5 seed Rome Free Academy 4-1 in the other semifinal.
What made the Bees’ win at Liverpool even more impressive was the fact that, when they played on this same LHS Stadium turf on Sept. 8, the Warriors routed B’ville 5-2.
And though the Bees won the return match 1-0 at home on Sept. 30, that game was on a grass surface, with which it was more familiar. Back on an artificial surface, and at home, the Warriors expected much better results.
With two sides accustomed to each other’s play and coming off long layoffs (the Bees hadn’t played in nine days, the Warriors in 10 days), the first half turned into a 0-0 standoff. B’ville made several runs, but every time it got close to the net, Liverpool goalie Katie Yudin ran out to turn it away.
At the same time, though, the Warriors, other than one penalty corner, could not get much accomplished against Anna Mazurkiewicz, Katie Doyle, Samantha Blais and the rest of B’ville’s defense, even when it picked up pressure early in the second half.
Then, against the flow of play, B’ville broke through at the 10:04 mark of the second half, Jade Earle earning the goal off a fast break as Amanda Strenk picked up the assist.
Now the pace quickened, and while the Bees tried to hold its lead, it could not do so, Kelly Bergamo putting a rebound shot past Abigail Timmons with 13:54 to play.
A mere 54 seconds later, though, the Bees were back at the Warriors’ doorstep, and Strenk converted, putting her team back in front.
Plenty of time remained, though, and in the final minutes Liverpool went all-out, earning four different penalty corners. But the Bees turned them back, Timmins making four saves, each of them in the second half, and B’ville managed to run out the clock.
