From early-season domination to late-season struggles, especially on the defensive side, the Baldwinsville field hockey team’s path to a second consecutive Section III Class A championship was not a smooth one.
Perhaps it only figured that weather would add a last twist to the plot when the sectional final between the no. 2 seed Bees and top seed Cicero-North Syracuse was pushed back 24 hours by the day-long rains on Oct. 29.
What’s more, instead of playing on a neutral field at Fayetteville-Manlius, the game was now at the Northstars’ home turf of Bragman Stadium, making it a true road game for B’ville.
Despite all of the obstacles, though, what mattered was that the Bees overcame the opponent, the home-field advantage for C-NS and adverse elements to prevail 2-0 and take the program’s third overall sectional title.
The odd part of the two regular-seasons meetings between the Bees and Northstars was that the road team won on both occasions, with B’ville prevailing 2-1 at Bragman Stadium in mid-September but losing 4-1 to C-NS at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium three weeks later.
As for this third encounter, the combination of wind and rain made it difficult for both teams to focus in the early going. By halftime, it was still 0-0, and the game was waiting for someone to seize it.
The Bees did so in two ways. First, it maintained the same strong defensive effort that had worked early, with Hannah Norton, Olivia Wachob, Megan Doyle and Emma Brushingham protecting that end, holding the Northstars to just two shots.
Meanwhile, the attack picked up, and at one point B’ville forced six straight penalty corners. Only on the sixth try did it prove successful as Mary Cate McKee swung a shot past Ally Wagner near the midway point of the second half.
Knowing that a 1-0 lead was far from safe, the Bees kept up the pressure, and with 5:30 left Amanda Strenk, who already had 30 goals on the season, took a pass from Leah Tuch and converted the clinching goal.
Now the Bees could focus on earning a second straight trip to the state final four, which it can attain if it wins this Saturday at Shenendehowa High School against Section II champion Saratoga Springs in the Class A regional final.
