Everything for the Baldwinsville girls soccer team has pointed toward next Tuesday night’s encounter with Liverpool, the first time the two sides have seen each other since clashing for – and sharing – the Section III Class AA title one season ago.
Of course, the Warriors advanced through penalty kicks, keeping the Bees out of the state tournament, and that memory has motivated B’ville throughout the off-season and translated into a 9-1 start this fall.
B’ville, who was no. 10 in last week’s state Class AA rankings, beat reigning state Class B champion Chenango Forks 2-1 on Sept. 16. Then, a day later, it beat Athens (Pennsylvania) 6-0, doing all of its damage during a first-half scoring blitz.
Hannah Mimas and Simone Neivel were at the forefront, each of them netting a pair of goals. Katie Pascale had one goal and one assist, with Graisa Madden also finding the net. Assists were credited to Kelsey DeLola and Claudia Fuller.
Now all that was left before the Bees’ match with Liverpool was Thursday night’s battle with Cicero-North Syracuse at Archie Hall Stadium. It didn’t prove easy, either, as the much-improved Northstars made B’ville work all the way to the end to preserve another 2-1 victory.
Even coming off a loss to Fayetteville-Manlius, C-NS still had a 5-2-1 record in the first half of the regular season, and would find itself quite resilient in the face of the Bees’ game-long pressure.
Both of B’ville’s goals came in the first half as Mimas and DeLola both found the net, with Pascale earning an assist. From there, the Northstars’ defense tightened as goalie Olivia Haven was superb, recording 12 saves by night’s end.
Given time to rally, C-NS, trailing 2-0, cut the deficit in half thanks to Marissa Bukowski’s goal, assisted by Morgan Siechen. Yet the Northstars could not possess the ball enough to make the Bees stress in the closing minutes.
The trip to Liverpool begins yet another busy week for the Bees, who also have to travel to F-M Thursday and then host New Hartford Saturday at 3 p.m.
