In most seasons, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team would get at least two chances to take down West Genesee.
Yet the 2013 slate offered just one regular-season meeting between the long-time rivals, and they had it Friday night in Camillus, where the Bees nearly got shut out in the first half and still made it interesting before falling to the Wildcats 8-4.
So much of WG’s run of six state Class A championships has come at the expense of B’ville, who has not won a sectional title since its run to the state crown in 2000.
As usual, the Bees arrived at this game determined to give WG battle, having won five in a row since a season-opening defeat to Farmingdale on April 2.
To counter B’ville’s aggressive style, the Wildcats made sure it kept the ball in the opponent’s end throughout the first half, a task made easier by seizing a 2-0 lead in the first seven minutes on goals by Elmer and Jamie Martin.
Vicki Graveline won a majority of the draws, leading to long possessions, and WG’s defense, led by Marissa Hudgins, Abby Connor, Courtney Shoults and Dina Cavallaro, quickly forced turnovers any time the Bees got close to the net.
Thus, the Wildcats could go more than 12 minutes without a goal and not suffer one bit. Elmer fed Cailyn Negus and Taylor Collins for goals late in the half, doubling the margin to 4-0, and WG nearly got a first-half shutout.
But B’ville didn’t surrender. Marjorie Dehm scored on a fast break four seconds before halftime, cutting WG’s lead to 4-1, and after Collins found the net early in the second half, Sarah Klaben and Kennedy Frink put in goals that made it 5-3 with more than 18 minutes to play.
Calling a time-out, the Wildcats turned to Graveline, who forced a turnover, hit a shot hard off the left post, and then returned second later to beat Lauren Burrows for a crucial goal with 15:40 left
B’ville never got close again as Elmer, who would finish the night with six assists, offered timely passes to Collins and Martin for goals in the latter stages. Jaclyn Hingre added a late goal for B’ville, but it was far from enough.
The Bees not get tripped up in the days leading up to West Genesee, defending home turf last Tuesday night in a 14-3 romp over Oswego.
Coming off its own close call (a 10-9 victory over Cicero-North Syracuse on April 19 not decided until the waning seconds), the Bees had no intention of letting the Buccaneers get involved, bolting out to a 10-1 lead by halftime and cruising through the rest of the game.
Kennedy Frink, in particular, had a big night, dishing out a career-best seven assists to go with her three goals. Frink’s passes went to, among others, senior co-captains Sarah Klaben and Amari Pollard, who also had three-goal hat tricks.
Taylor Gebhardt scored twice, while Kylie Scott, Natalie Kaufman and Jackie Gould put up one goal apiece and Stephanie Roberts added an assist. Nicole Burrows had a superb performance in the net, finshing with 10 saves.
With the loss to WG, B’ville could now turn toward a deluge of nine remaining games in a span of just 16 days, starting with four games in six days this week. The Bees would host reigning Class B champion CBA on Monday night and venture to Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday, with a trip to Central Square and a home game against Auburn in between.
