One side had to fight all the way to the final seconds to prevail. The other had things in hand long before that point.
Yet West Genesee and Baldwinsville ended up in exactly the same place, finding themselves on their way to SUNY-Cortland next Tuesday night to battle for the Section III Class A championship.
Thursday’s semifinals at Auburn’s Holland Stadium started with the state no. 1-ranked Bees rolling past Rome Free Academy 20-5, and was followed by a tense battle where the Wildcats dethroned defending champion Christian Brothers Academy in a 13-12 thriller.
The game between WG and CBA was a rematch of the 2018 sectional final that the Brothers won on the way to the state Class A title, though the Wildcats had won 9-7 when these side met late in April at Alibrandi Stadium.
At the outset, this game followed that same path, in terms of scoring pace, WG trailing 2-1 before it put together a 4-0 run in a six-minute stretch late in the first half, two of the goals from Sophia Scialdone as Tara Osterdale and Emily Stratton also converted.
But as heavy rains fell right before halftime, CBA countered with three straight goals of its own to tie it, 5-5, and even when the rain stopped, the Brothers appeared to take charge early in the second half, going in front 8-6.
Absorbing all this, WG again put together a 4-0 spurt, with two of the goals from Gabby Meager, including the go-ahead tally, only to have CBA again fight back to tie it before Stratton, with 10:53 left, gave WG an 11-10 lead.
Elise Mancabelli converted on a free position with four minutes to play. Then, down 12-10, the Brothers pulled within one as Anthony scored, but Mackenzie Winn found the net with 1:17 left – the game-winner, as it turned out.
Bella Roberson’s goal with 38 seconds to play again sliced the Wildcats’ margin to one, and the Brothers got the draw, using a time-out to set up a possible tying goal and overtime -but WG’s defense was able to make the one stop it needed to survive.
All of this was quite a contrast to the first sectional semifinal, whose main storyline was having Baldwinsville go up against the RFA side coached by Doug Rowe, who had built the Bees’ program into a powerhouse before his departure in 2016.
And while the Black Knights have improved plenty under Rowe’s watch, it still wasn’t at the Bees’ level, as was quickly apparent with Katie Pascale and Emma States scoring in the first 90 seconds to give B’ville a lead it would not relinquish.
By controlling 12 of 15 draws and spreading its production around, the Bees were able to establish a double-digit margin before halftime, the 13-2 lead meaning that the clock would run throughout the second half.
Still, B’ville maintained its pace and intensity, seeing seven different players earn multiple goals, a well-balanced attack led by Pascale and States, who each scored twice and got four assists.
Emma Gebhardt had four goals and one assist, with Hannah Johnson and Sophia Cavallaro each netting three goals, Johnson adding two assists. Olivia Muscolino had two goals and two assists as Sarah Klein also had two goals. Single goals went to Jenna Pastore and defender Emme Foote.
