B’ville boys lacrosse starts 2-0

At the same time, the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team is dealing with two themes during the 2016 season.
Short-term, the Bees want to improve on last year’s early Section III Class A playoff exit at the hands – and sticks – of Syracuse, and have worked hard the last 10 months to make sure it can make a better championship push.
But in the long term, this season is a bit of a place-holder. B’ville has moved home games to a different field on the Baker High School campus as an artificial turf is installed at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, and though no home dates were affected, things will feel different.
To start with, though, B’ville had to go on the road last Thursday night and visit Marcellus, who had already played twice, falling to Tully in overtime and routing Onondaga.
As it turned out, it was the team making its season debut that was quicker out of the game, making a big difference in the Bees’ eventual 17-13 victory over the Mustangs.
A sharp, precise attack was on point from the opening face-off, and B’ville grabbed a 4-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. And for the rest of the game, every time Marcellus made a surge and got close, the Bees provided an answer, with five different players earning multiple goals.
At the front of the attack, Connor Smith scored five times, with Ryan Gebhardt contributing four goals and one assists. Peter Fiorini III earned two goals and three assists as Charlie Bertrand and Matt Dickman also scored twice.
Dillon Darcangelo gained a goal and two assists, with Patrick Delpha also finding the net. Single assists went to Bertrand and Ryan Ingerson as Riley Smith, busy in the net, recorded 12 saves. Marcellus lost despite five goals from Ross Filtch, four assists from Shane Rohe and three goals from Matt Hutchings.
It was supposed to get tougher on Saturday when the Bees had its home opener against Skaneateles, who had routed Jordan-Elbridge 15-5 in its first game of the season earlier in the week.
However, that didn’t prove the case – at least in the long term. A combination of tremendous defense, Riley Smith’s spectacular work in the net and timely scoring bursts made the difference as B’ville again won by a four-goal margin, topping the Lakers 10-6.
Though it won every first-quarter face-off, the Bees only scored twice, on goals by Bertrand and Gebhardt. Yet it took a 2-0 lead because every time Skaneateles had a chance, Riley Smith kept making stops, including one where he managed a split while hanging on to the ball.
The Lakers finally did score in the second quarter on a pair of Jack VanSlyke goals. Other than Bertrand’s goal, B’ville was kept quiet, so it only led 3-2 at halftime, but it would never let Skaneateles pull back even.
Gebhardt broke a long Bees drought midway through the third quarter, and Connor Smith made it 5-2. Then, early in the fourth quarter, B’ville decided by netting three goals in a span of less than 90 seconds as Gebhardt, Smith and Darcangelo took turns finding the net.
Bertrand would match Gebhardt’s totals of three goals and one assist as Fiorini contributed one goal and one assist. Just as important was Riley Smith’s 15 saves, helped by a back line of Ben Dwyer, Kyle Pelcher and John Petrelli that, along with long-stick midfielder Patrick Delpha, frustrated Skaneateles for most of the afternoon.
B’ville was scheduled Tuesday night for a key early-season test at West Genesee, but that game was postponed due to field conditions caused by the weekend snow until April 18.
Also, the status of Thursday’s home game against last year’s other sectional finalist, Auburn, hinged on how quickly the cleanup from that snow would take.