When it traveled to Fayetteville-Manlius last Tuesday night, the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team plunged into the heart of its busiest stretch of the spring.
The Bees’ 9-7 defeat to Victor on April 6 began a stretch where it would play eight times in 17 days, including a full tour of the SCAC Metro division and two games against the Hornets in less than a week.
And the first showdown between B’ville and F-M proved a classic, the Bees trailing most of the night before seizing a fourth-quarter lead, only to have the Hornets stage its own comeback and prevail 11-10 in overtime.
Amid cold, windy conditions, the Bees took a long while to warm up, falling behind 3-0 before Austin Bolton’s goal got the visitors on the board late in the first quarter.
Brendan Wilcox, Adam Davis and Spencer Wirtheim all connected in the second period, briefly tying it at 4-4 before Mike Howe found the net and F-M took a 5-4 advantage to the break.
Again, the Bees caught up late in the third period, Wilcox tying it 7-7, but again the Hornets pulled in front before B’ville jumped out in front for the first time on back-to-back goals from Wirtheim.
Now up 10-8, the Bees tried to protect that lead, but Howe and Jack Shanley converted, and it was 10-10 at the end of regulation. They moved to OT, where the Hornets gained possession and Howe put it past Dan Stehle for the game-winner.
Prior to that, Stehle had recorded 16 saves, with Wirtheim getting four goals and two assists. Davis had two goals and two assists as Connor Steria joined Bolton with one goal apiece.
Four days later, the Bees and Hornets reunited at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, and the result proved quite different, B’ville dominating in all phases of the game as it trashed the Hornets 16-5.
The turning point came early. It was 1-1 when, not even four minutes into the game, the Bees called time-out. From that point forward, B’ville was close to perfect.
Wilcox scored seconds after the timeout. Then he converted again and, nine seconds later, Jake Walsh took the ensuing faceoff and found the net, a flurry from which F-M never recovered.
It was 5-1 by the end of the first quarter, and the rout continued the rest of the half, the margin doubling to 9-1, and then growing further to 13-1 late in the third period.
All the while, B’ville’s defense, led by Cam Sweeney, Caleb Voorhees and Carter Gates, smothered F-M in a shutout streak that consumed more than 31 minutes of clock, Stehle again finishing with 16 saves.
Wirtheim, aside from his four goals, recorded four assists. Tangredi also scored four times, with Bolton getting three goals. Davis and Cameron Slink earned single tallies.
Just before this, the Bees earned an easy 21-3 victory over Syracuse on Thursday night. Fourteen different players got goals against the Cougars, starting with Wirtheim, who augmented his three goals with four assists as Casey Scott and Noah Ravas also earned hat tricks.
Bolton got two goals and one assist, with Wilcox, Tangredi, Connor Steria, Braden McCard, Sam Iven, Tommy Thibault, Matt Wodka and Garrett Petrelli each finishing with one goal and one assist. Again, Davis and Slink got single goals.
Three more home games loom next week, B’ville welcoming Liverpool on Tuesday and Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday before meeting Auburn on April 20.
