Nothing less than a complete effort is required if the Baldwinsville girls soccer team wants to add a second state championship to the one it gained 15 years ago.
In other words, it needs something exactly similar to what it accomplished Saturday at Stillwater High School, when it scored twice early and then relied on its defense to beat Shenendehowa 2-1 in the Class AA regional final.
Happy as B’ville was to reclaim the Section III Class AA title from Liverpool on Oct. 28 at SUNY-Cortland, it knew that game pivoted on an injury to Warriors midfielder Bri Kovarik in the opening minutes from which the Warriors never recovere
The Bees did have good state tournament memories, though, having handled Niskayuna 3-0 in this same regional round the last time it got this far in 2015.
What’s more, though Shenendehowa carried a 17-1 record into this game, the Bees had gone 2-0 against other Section II foes (Bethlehem, Saratoga Springs) earlier this season, so it felt no apprehension about matching up against the Plainsmen.
The opening sequence featured all-out attacks on both ends. B’ville struck less than four minutes into the game when Simone Neivel found the net with an assist from Hannah Mimas, only to have Shen answer with a goal just 35 seconds later.
Yet the 1-1 tie didn’t last long, either, Mimas putting herself in prime position again as she eluded the Plainsmen defenders and, taking a pass from Katie Pascale, converted to put her team in front for the second time.
What followed for the rest of the afternoon was a long stalemate. On the one hand, the Bees’ attack got quieted, putting more pressure on the defense to make sure Shen didn’t pull even again.
As so many times before, B’ville’s back line met the challenge. Carolyn Brussel, Gabby Piontkowski, Leah Burrer and the other defenders kept turning away all of Shen’s runs, while goalie Meaghan Wilson protected the net by making 10 saves.
All of this has brought the Bees back to the state final four, where next Saturday night at 5:30 at SUNY-Cortland it will face Monroe-Woodbury (who eliminated defending state champion Arlington in its regional game) in the state semifinals. The winner advances to next Sunday’s title game at 3 p.m. played at Cortland High School.
