Had the Baldwinsville boys soccer team risen up and beaten Cicero-North Syracuse in Monday night’s Section III Class AA final at Fulton, it would have meant a seventh sectional title in nine years – and the most unlikely championship of that entire run.
Yet the Bees could not overcome a focused, determined effort by the Northstars, who ended its own nine-year title drought by prevailing 2-0 on goals by Nate Spenard in the first half and Nick Bitz in the second half.
That B’ville was even in this final was a surprise to some. A month earlier, the Bees were at 4-4-2, just struggling to get above the .500 mark, far below the ranks of other local AA sides. Yet it caught fire at just the right time, winning eight straight in October, capped by a 2-1 overtime victory over top seed Liverpool (who had beaten them twice early this season) in the Oct. 29 sectional semifinal, also at Fulton.
Combined with C-NS upending no. 2 seed Nottingham 1-0 in the other semifinal, this created a match-up that, in recent years, had always seemed to go B’ville’s way in the post-season. In fact, each of the four previous sectional playoff matches between the two sides ended in the Bees’ favor,
The Northstars were determined to change that historic trend, but hadn’t done so in the regular season, since each of those matches ended in draws – 0-0 on Sept. 8 at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, 2-2 on Sept. 22 at the Gillette Road complex.
Right from the outset, though, C-NS carried the action, both with a set of forwards that made the Bees’ defenders work, plus an experienced defense that never let B’ville’s front line find much room to maneuver.
Waiting for an opportunity, the Northstars capitalized in the 29th minute when a Bees handball led to a free kick 20 yards from the net. Austin Mizell took it from the right side, and the ball flicked off Zach Spenard’s foot past B’ville goalie Andrew Hahn.
That one-goal margin looked a lot larger in the hands of C-NS’s defense. Between them, Mizell, along with fellow seniors Matt Pike, Evan Gakeler and Ryan Gilbert, shut down whatever B’ville tried, and goalie Matt Siegel did well, too, stopping all six shots he faced, including a key stop on Stan Jensen’s free kick early in the second half, the best chance the Bees had to pull even.
So the game was still in doubt when, with 17:49 left, the havoc caused by Lucas Roberts during his constant runs down the wings paid off when Roberts, on the right side, drew in defenders, and then crossed to Bitz, who flicked it past a charging Hahn, and then did a celebratory back flip.
Try as it could, the Bees could not get on the board, just as Henninger and Nottingham were unable to do as C-NS continued a shutout that dated back to Oct. 15 and a first-half goal allowed in a 3-1 win over Fayetteville-Manlius.
While the Northstars moved on to face Section II champion Ballston Spa Saturday for a spot in the state final four at Middletown, B’ville ended at 12-5-2, having lost in the sectional final for the second year in a row (Fayetteville-Manlius topped the Bees 1-0 in the 2014 title game).
Eleven seniors depart, including Hahn and top scorers Alex Pompo and Evan Ingersoll, plus the likes of Alex Sheperd, Christian Fuller, Mike Morris, Justin Lado and Mason Soeder, though stars like Jensen, Mike Brussel (who scored the OT goal to beat Liverpool), Evan Smith, Connor Carhart, Josh Doback and Ben Kinslow return in 2016.