HEMPSTEAD – Long before any of its current players were born, the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse program set a benchmark by reaching the 1992 state Class A championship game.
At least it was the benchmark – until another group of Bees arrived and, exactly 30 years later, climbed to the summit that eluded all of their predecessors.
At Hofstra University Saturday afternoon, B’ville defeated Northport 10-7 in the Class A state title game, completing an historic double with its girls counterparts who also beat Northport to win a state championship earlier that day.
“We worked our entire lives for this and it’s the best feeling in the world,” said senior midfielder Trey Ordway.
Balance on the attack, tremendous work in the face-off circle by Jacob Czyz, consistent and stifling defense – all the elements that made the Bees good throughout this spring blended together one more time.
Head coach Matt Wilcox said this victory was for all the B’ville teams of the past, but especially those in 2020, who never had a season due to COVID-19, and 2021, who earned a sectional title but again did not have a chance to play a state tournament.
And it happened against a nationally-ranked opponent, Northport, who sported a 20-1 record and was playing next door to its Suffolk County home base against a Bees side that had rode in by charter bus the day before.
But having waited a lifetime to experience a state championship, B’ville was determined to go all the way, not even minding the weather delay that occurred barely eight minutes into the final.
From the time Czyz claimed the opening draw, the Bees were sharp and focused, twice converting possessions as Keegan Lynch and long-stick midfielder Braydon Penafeather-Stevenson found the net.
With 4:11 left in the first quarter, lightning sent both teams off the field for 30 minutes. The stoppage did little to slow down B’ville, who returned and, helped by goals from Ordway and Carson Dyl, doubled that margin by the time the period ended.
Northport was shut out until Michael Meyer’s goal with 7:11 left in the half. Four minutes later, Meyer assisted on Jack Deliberti’s goal, making it 4-2.
B’ville’s brief drought ended when Ryan Hollenbeck became the fifth different player to score with 1:29 left in the half. Even bigger was Dyl’s goal with 1.6 seconds to play that restored the Bees’ margin and made it 6-2 going into the break.
The combination of another Czyz faceoff and another Dyl goal (his third) early in the third period extended the margin to 7-2, but any thought that the Bees would sail to the title vanished when the Tigers put together a quick three-goal run.
With the lead down to 7-5, it was here that B’ville’s defense had its decisive moments. Here, and deep into the fourth quarter, Austin McClintic, Pat Otts, Tucker Macknick and the rest of the back line offered ample protection for a lead it had kept throughout the afternoon.
This helped B’ville weather its scoring drought until Colin Doyle found the net with 6:20 to play. Though the Tigers answered a minute later, the Bees still had its two-goal cushion, which again it protected down the stretch.
With 1:53 left, Ordway returned to net his second goal, one that, combined with all that had taken place before, secured B’ville’s newfound place at the top.
And when the clock struck zero, another group of lacrosse players wearing Baldwinsville red sprinted onto the field, four hours and 240 miles removed from where another celebration had taken place.
But unlike the girls, who had least had a predecessor from 2000 who knew how winning a state championship felt, the boys Bees – a group that, said Ordway, had worked together since childhood and were each other’s best friends – were experiencing this moment for the first time, establishing a standard for every B’ville team to follow.
