One of the more enjoyable traditions that Doug Rowe built in his quarter-century coaching the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team was the trips the team took all over the United States during various school breaks.
From Hawaii to California, Colorado to Texas, the Bees spread the word of the girls game to burgeoning programs everywhere, and would do so one more time last week when it ventured to Georgia for a pair of games and plenty of good times.
It started in the Atlanta suburbs, where B’ville took on John’s Creek last Monday afternoon and prevailed by an 18-6 margin over the Gladiators. Steady play throughout the first half resulted in a 9-4 margin, and that lead kept growing.
Glory Johnson again led the charge, with six goals and two assists, but five other Bees also had multiple goals, led by Sara Goodwin, who scored twice and tacked on five assists.
Peyton Fleming gained two goals and one assist as Hannah Johnson, Anna Mazurkiewicz and Lindsay Guild matched that two-goal output. Alex Leo and Maria Henwood earned single goals as Julia Pelcher got two assists. Emma States also contributed an assist.
Two days later, B’ville went across the state to face Westminster Academy in Augusta, not far from the annual site of the Masters Tournament. Against the Wildcats, the Bees took a close 9-8 defeat, the game close from start to finish as Goodwin notched two goals and four assists and Glory Johnson scored three times. Leo, Pelcher and Hannah Johnson had one goal apiece.
Returning home with a 4-6 record, B’ville did not get a warm welcome from Cicero-North Syracuse on Saturday afternoon at Bragman Stadium, again putting up a maximum effort, but again seeing the other side prevail as it lost, 13-10, to the Northstars, who had claimed a 13-5 decision when these sides met two weeks earlier.
In truth, the Bees couldn’t recover from a first half where C-NS gained a 7-3 edge. Fighting back, B’ville saw Glory Johnson score five goals, with Mazurkiewicz and Fleming each finding the net twice as Goodwin scored and joined Mazurkiewicz in the assist column.
Between them, Madeline Curtis and Julia George made seven saves, but couldn’t keep everything out. The Northstars featured senior Meghan Duffy on its attack as she notched five goals and one assist, with Samantha Tortora and Jessica Meneilly each scoring twice.
Having fallen to 4-7, B’ville still had time to save its season, but would need to turn around defeats to Fayetteville-Manlius and Liverpool this week to do so, having lost to the Hornets 11-9 and the Warriors 11-8 in a five-day stretch in mid-April.