CENTRAL NEW YORK – One year after claiming the Section III Class A championship on that same turf, the Baldwinsville field hockey team was back at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, looking to reach that level again.
Doing so required winning a semifinal Sunday afternoon between the no. 3 seed Bees and no. 2 seed Rome Free Academy, who had knocked off B’ville 1-0 in their lone regular-season meeting on Sept. 16.
Here, B’ville got on the board, but still saw the Black Knights prevail 2-1 and advance to next weekend’s title game against Cicero-North Syracuse, who beat Fayetteville-Manlius 3-1 in the other semifinal.
Key to RFA’s efforts was getting its initial goal in the first quarter. From there, and over the next two periods, the Black Knights maintained that slim 1-0 edge, leaning on its defense to turn back a number of good Bees chances to pull even.
Not until the fourth quarter did the Bees finally get on the board with Bridget Roy’s goal. Yet the Black Knights converted, too, and with Jaylene Decker recording eight saves, RFA was able to close things out.
Alexa Thompson and Drew Kopek both found the net for the Black Knights, with assists credited to Fiona McMahon and Emma Wright. They overcame eight saves from Bees goalie Caley Gee.
At least B’ville arrived with some confidence after it flattened Auburn 7-0 in last Thursday’s opening-round sectional match at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium
Wasting little time, the Bees took a 3-0 lead on the Maroons by the end of the first quarter. A second-period goal followed and B’ville tacked on three more in the third period before resting its starters.
Overall, B’ville finished at 13-5, seeing off a terrific senior class that included Roy, Caley Gee, Erin Gee, Skye Exware, Emma Mantione and Hannah Salvagni, though many top players, including Julia Schultz, are set to return in 2023.
