On so many levels, the Baldwinsville field hockey team’s 2-1 victory over Fayetteville-Manlius in Sunday’s Section III Class A championship game was sweet and satisfying.
Start with the fact that this was the Bees’ first sectional title since 2010. Add to it that it was earned on F-M’s home field. Add further that it was the same place where the Hornets beat B’ville in a shoot-out in the 2015 sectional final and, two weekends ago, ruined the Bees’ dreams of an undefeated regular season.
“We really wanted revenge,” said B’ville senior Shylea Dukat, who scored the game-winning goal late in the second half. “We were so pumped up.”
Senior goalie Abbey Timmins agreed. “We knew F-M would be our biggest threat, and we left it all on the field,” she said.
Having ably recovered from its tense 2-1 overtime victory over Liverpool in last Tuesday’s sectional semifinal at Rome Free Academy Stadium, the top-seeded Bees worked through an efficient opening sequence, rarely letting F-M get too many close opportunities.
And even when the Hornets did pick up penalty corners and got open looks, Timmins turned them away, earning five first-half saves and plenty of praise from her teammates.
“Abbey is great goalie,” said Dukat. She is our best defender.”
Just when it looked like the game would stay 0-0 going into the break, B’ville put together a beautiful sequence of passes starting at midfield, which didn’t end until Amanda Strenk found Mackenzie Wodka, who slid it past Hornets goalie Catherine Barr with 51.7 seconds left in the half.
F-M attacked hard early in the second half. Befitting its team effort, though, the Bees’ back line, led by Lauren Brushingham, Mariah Mancini and Hannah Norton, kept getting in front of the ball.
Midway through the half, though, a scramble off a penalty corner resulted in Liz Truman poking the ball into the net to pull the Hornets even, 1-1. All that did, said Dukat, was motivate the Bees further.
“We knew we had to work harder and finish strong,” said Dukat.
That involved long possessions in F-M’s end following Truman’s tying goal. Eventually, that pressure paid off when Dukat, denied point-blank by Barr, pounced on a rebound and converted with 4:21 to play.
The Hornets kept on battling, getting one more penalty corner with two minutes left. However, Sophie Craig, a standout throughout the game, mishit her shot wide, and B’ville was able to run out the clock.
This Saturday, B’ville will make the short trip to Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium to face the winner of the Section V-Section VI game in the Class A regional final, needing a win to advance to the Nov. 12-13 state final four at Maine-Endwell, near Binghamton.
