Rarely in its remarkable undefeated run through the 2016 season had the Baldwinsville girls soccer team faced serious stress late in games.
Yet it popped up at a time where any mistake may have meant an abrupt end to championship dreams.
B’ville, having risen to no. 7 in the latest state rankings, found itself tied with Fayetteville-Manlius late in Tuesday night’s Section III Class AA semifinal at Christian Brothers Academy’s Alibrandi Stadium before a senior (Addison Hornsey) and a freshman (Simone Neivel) paired up to save matters and produce a 1-0 victory.
What was immediately clear to B’ville was that this was not the same F-M side it had beat 4-0 on Sept. 15, but more closely resembled the side the Bees had fought past 2-0 on the Hornets’ home turf in early October.
Employing the same tough defense that had worked so well against West Genesee in the Oct. 20 sectional quarterfinal in Camillus (where it eventually won in penalty kicks), F-M blanked B’ville in the first half, something few teams had done all season. The Hornets also limited the shots B’ville could manage, another rare feat.
As the second half wore on and the score remained 0-0, Bees fans grew nervous. F-M wasn’t generating many opportunities, but as long as it kept the Bees out of the net, it had a chance to pull off a shocker.
Just before it go to 20 minutes of mandatory overtime, though, B’ville freshman Simone Neivel broke free and, taking a pass from senior Addison Hornsey, slipped a shot past Hornets goalie Sabrina Suriani with just 1:53 left in regulation. The Hornets could not answer it.
In the other sectional semifinal at Chittenango High School, no. 2 seed Liverpool routed no. 3 seed Rome Free Academy 6-0, setting up the final most had expected back in August, a rematch of the 2015 title game between the Bees and Warriors, taking place Saturday night at 7:30 at SUNY-Cortland.
