ONONDAGA COUNTY – Two things were foremost on the minds of the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse players going into June, which were short-term and long-term.
The long-range plan was the same – hang on to the Section III Class A championship. In its immediate future, though, the Bees wanted to finally beat Fayetteville-Manlius after taking its only two defeats of the season to the Hornets.
And for a long while last Tuesday night at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, it appeared the breakthrough would happen, but right at the end F-M denied the Bees in a 12-11 classic.
This game had a near-identical start to the one seven days earlier, with the Hornets converting several times and handing B’ville a 5-1 deficit.
As the game went on, though, the Bees chipped away, pulling within two, 7-5, by the end of the third quarter to set up a frantic final period.
Early in the quarter, B’ville tied it, 9-9, and after a tense scoreless stretch it took a 10-9 lead with less than four minutes left, only to have F-M counter with two quick goals to go back in front.
With 2:01 left, the Bees tied it again, 11-11 and had a chance to win in the final minute. But the F-M defense made a stop, charged and, with 1.3 seconds to play, Josh Michel put in the game-winner, his third goal of the night.
Trey Ordway scored four times to pace B’ville’s attack. Colin Socker and Victor Ianno had one goal apiece, with single goals going to Keegan Lynch, Ryan Hollenbeck and Colin Doyle. B’ville had a big advantage in shots, only to see F-M goalie Matt LaCombe record 22 saves.
In between those two home games with F-M were back-to-back visits to Bragman Stadium to face Cicero-North Syracuse at the end of May.
B’ville had no trouble in the first of those games, easing past the Northstars 15-7 in large measure due to a dominant first half where it sprinted out to a 10-2 advantage.
Luke Hoskin scored four times, with Keegan Lynch getting two goals and three assists. Victor Ianno and Colin Socker also had two-goal outings.
Colin Doyle, with a goal and two assists, offered more support as Carson Dyl, Mike Marsallo, Trey Ordway, Caden Cox and Jacob Czyz also found the net and Leo Johnson added an assist.
Two days later, it didn’t quite go the same, but B’ville still won 13-7, taking the lead in the second period and then blanking the Northstars while netting four unanswered goals in the third quarter to build an 11-5 edge.
Hoskin and Ordway both netted three goals. Lynch scored twice, with Socker and Doyle both getting a goal and two assists. Ianno had one goal and one assist as Ryan Hollenbeck and Brayden Penafeather-Stevenson also found the net.
B’ville lacrosse fans saw, on that same day, alum Charlie Bertrand score crucial goals in the University of Virginia’s narrow 11-10 victory over North Carolina in the NCAA championship semifinals.
Two days later, the Cavaliers held off Maryland in a 17-16 epic, and Bertrand was a national champion on a team coached by LaFayette High School alum Lars Tiffany, soon to join the roster of the Premier Lacrosse League’s Redwoods Lacrosse Club.
Meanwhile, Bertrand’s alma mater geared up to defend its sectional title, owning the top seed and an automatic spot in Thursday’s semifinal where it would host no. 4 seed Syracuse or no. 5 seed Liverpool. A win would mean hosting the title game on Saturday at Pelcher-Arcaro.
