While it would rather enjoy this position on the second weekend of June, the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team still had to mark the occasion when it rose to the no. 1 spot in last week’s state Class A rankings.
The Bees’ 8-0 start, capped by back-to-back lopsided wins on a spring-break trip to Tennessee, helped it reach the top of the state poll, though it knew quite well that tough road games awaited them in the last full week of April.
First, B’ville traveled to Mike Messere Field last Tuesday night to face West Genesee, who was 4-4 and coming off consecutive losses to Rush-Henrietta and Canandaigua.
Yet the Wildcats made the Bees go to the wire to preserve a tough 11-10 victory, B’ville never taking the lead for good until late in the second half and needing its defense to preserve a slim margin late.
B’ville staked itself to an early 4-1 lead, but WG tied it with three straight goals, two of them by Sophia Scialdone, before the Bees put together a sustained run of its own late in the first half.
Another goal early in the second half extended B’ville’s edge to 8-4, but that didn’t hold, either. WG fought back again, Matisyn Schaut converting three times and then, with the score 9-7, Halen Saroney found the net twice and tied the game 9-9.
So it went into the homestretch, B’ville briefly taking the lead before Emily Stratton converted a third time with 5:19 left. Less than two minutes later, the Bees again went in front and managed to prevent the Wildcats from forcing overtime.
Most of B’ville’s production came from Emma Gebhardt, who had four goals, and Katie Pascale, who got three goals and one assist as Sophia Cavallaro scored twice. Emma States and Olivia Muscolino had one goal apiece.
WG goalie Abby Bednarski made 12 saves, twice the total of Bees counterpart Jordan Roy.
Having fought so hard here, B’ville now had to go face state Class B no. 4-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius on Thursday night, the Hornets eager to avenge its own 11-10 defeat to the Bees earlier in the month.
And F-M did so, though even here B’ville showed tremendous fight, overcoming serious disadvantages to put together a late-game scare before it lost, 8-6, to the Hornets.
By far, the Bees’ biggest problem in this game was an inability to win draws. Led by freshman Ava Angello, F-M got those draws and dominated possession throughout the first half, constantly pressuring B’ville and forcing them into turnovers.
Yet the Bees only trailed 5-2 at the break, with both goals by States. B’ville was fortunate that F-M had hit posts on four different shots, and throughout the second half it remained within range, waiting for someone to spark them.
Hannah Johnson would provide that spark, claiming draws and then hitting on back-to-back goals (her second and third of the game) to cut B’ville’s 7-3 deficit in half. Then Pascale, from the point, converted a free-position shot with 3:26 left, and the Bees only trailed by one, 7-6.
F-M kept its poise, though, and Angello won another draw, allowing the Hornets to burn some time before Annie Steigerwald found the net with 1:35 left.
Pascale and Muscolino both earned assists, and Roy finished with seven saves, the same as F-M counterpart Natalie Cassalia. Katie Shanley paced the Hornets with three goals and two assists.
With the nine-game win streak broken, B’ville looked to get another one going at Liverpool on Saturday afternoon, and did so as the Bees nearly doubled up the Warriors and prevailed 19-10.
Continuing her fine play from the F-M game, Johnson netted five goals, with Pascale getting four goals and three assists. Muscolino scored twice, as did Pastore, with Muscolino adding two assists. States and Cavallaro both had a goal and two assists.
These same Bees and Warriors meet again Thursday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the only game for B’ville this week.
