No game in the early stages of the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team’s 2019 season carried as much weight as last Saturday’s battle with Victor at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
In the last four years, the Blue Devils, from the Section V ranks, have claimed three consecutive state titles – one in Class A, two in Class B – and nearly made it four in a row last year before a narrow defeat to Garden City in the championship game.
So Victor was a supreme challenge for the Bees, and for a while it looked like it would get out of hand, but B’ville finished strong, even if the result was its first loss of the season by a 9-7 margin.
All through the first half, the Bees’ defense struggled to contain the Blue Devils, and its deficit grew, eventually to 8-3 as the teams entered intermission.
Little changed until the fourth quarter, when B’ville, down 9-4, shut Victor down and made its way back, hoping to reward Dan Stehle for the 12 saves he put together in the net.
The comeback fell short, though, with the Bees getting little production beyond the four goals put in by Adam Davis. Spencer Wirtheim had a goal and two assists, with Austin Bolton adding one goal and one assist. Braden McCard had the other goal.
Back on Tuesday night, things were a lot easier for B’ville as its offense ran over Cazenovia for the first three quarters on the way to defeating the Lakers 19-7.
Six goals in each of the first two periods was convincing enough, but even a 12-5 halftime advantage did not placate B’ville, for it blanked Cazenovia in the third quarter while netting five unanswered goals.
Wirtheim scored three times and got four assists as Davis had four goals and one assist. McCard and Noah Ravas had their own three-goal hat tricks to match Wirtheim.
Bolton notched two goals and two assists, with Mike Tangredi getting two goals and one assist. Logan Slather had a goal and two assists, Connor Steria contributing a goal and assist as Cameron Slink had two assists and Braden Lynch one assist.
Hours after B’ville’s boys lost to Victor, the girls lacrosse Bees returned to action against visiting Cleveland Heights, from Ohio, and had little trouble moving to 4-0 on the season as it gained an 18-4 victory over the Tigers.
Up 14-1 by halftime, B’ville got three-goal hat tricks from Emma States, Katie Pascale and Sophia Cavallaro, with States adding four assists.
Olivia Muscolino and Jenna Pastore both scored twice, Muscolino tacking on a pair of assists. Hannah Johnson had a goal and two assists as Cassidy Hayward and Bailey Nicholson both had one goal and one assist. Jordan Roy and Tiffany Natoli also converted.
In this week’s action, the B’ville boys will face Fayetteville-Manlius twice – once on Tuesday at the Hornets’ turf, and again on Saturday at home – with a road test at Syracuse on Thursday night in between.
The girls Bees have its own game with F-M on Tuesday night at Pelcher-Arcaro before a Saturday trip to Irondequoit.
