The 24-year wait for the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team to climb back to the Section III Class A summit hinges on the Bees pulling off what it couldn’t do twice during the regular season – namely, beat Fayetteville-Manlius.
That final between the Bees and Hornets Saturday at the Carrier Dome was set up by the events of Thursday’s sectional semifinals at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, which provided a sharp contrast that B’ville would hope to exploit.
Rested from having a bye straight into the semifinals, the Bees took apart the no. 4 seed Syracuse Cougars 15-6 in a game long decided before the fourth quarter, while the no. 2 seed Hornets had to sweat out a 10-9 win over West Genesee all the way to the wire, though it was the first time F-M had ever beaten the Wildcats three times in a season.
Things were done between F-M and West Genesee by the time the Bees took the field against Syracuse, a team it had beaten by margins of 10-6 and 12-6 earlier this spring. Both of those games were stressful, and B’ville was interested in having more drama with a berth in the finals on the line.
Sparked by wins in the face-off X from Ryan Ingerson, the Bees rolled out to a 5-1 lead by the end of the first quarter, but didn’t stop there. During a decisive second quarter, B’ville exploited every weakness in Syracuse’s defenses and didn’t let up until it had built up an 11-1 halftime edge.
It got to 14-1 before Syracuse was able to score again, but by that point the Bees were already resting its main players and getting ready for F-M.
A four-pronged attack helped B’ville win with ease. Connor Smith scored five times, often fed by Peter Fiorini, who got five assists. Charlie Bertrand amassed three goals and three assists as Ryan Gebhardt also scored three times.
Even long-stick midfielder Patrick Delpha got in the fun, twice firing home goals as Mitch Warren Matt Dickman and Dillon Darcangelo got one goal apiece. Mike Bourdon tacked on an assist.
As if all of this wasn’t exciting enough, B’ville got word on Thursday that it had won the Scholar-Athlete Award for boys lacrosse from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. The team had a total grade average of 96.39, best among all teams under the NYSPHSAA banner.
