ONONDAGA COUNTY – It was just the first Saturday of May, and a game between two boys lacrosse sides that won’t meet in the post-season since one is in Class A and the other is in Class B.
But the intensity that Baldiwnsville and Victor displayed at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium matched or topped that of any playoff contest, and when the Bees rallied in the final minutes to win it 7-6, it celebrated as if it won something bigger.
Victor arrived as the state’s top-ranked Class B team, and the Blue Devils threatened to take down B’ville when, down 2-0 after one quarter, it rattled off five unanswered goals to lead 5-2 at the break.
But Carson Dyl, who would be heard from again, brought the Bees close with back-to-back third-quarter goals that, combined with Ryan Quinn’s tally late in the period, tied it again, 5-5.
And even though the Blue Devils reclaimed a 6-5 edge early in the fourth, B’ville never let it get away and, when it counted most, made all the clutch plays.
First it was a defensive strip with two minutes left as Victor tried to run out the clock, leading to a possession and Keegan Lynch finding the net with 1:30 to play.
Then it was a face-off won by Josh Armpriester that set up a last possession in regulation that Dyl worked down. Following a scramble and a foul, Lynch, from the right wing, drew Blue Devil defenders and passed it to Dyl, who with a rocket shot from the point scored the game-winner with just 1.9 seconds showing on the clock.
Before all this, B’ville had a tough 10-9 win over Liverpool last Tuesday at LHS Stadium.
On the one hand, the Bees remained the solid Class A favorite, but what was also true was that Liverpool had come a long way since it got hammered 17-7 by B’ville at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium on April 14.
In fact, LHS brought a five-game win streak into the game and, throughout the night, did a fine job keeping most of the Bees’ top skill players off the board.
To make up for it, the Bees leaned heavily on Lynch and Brady Garcia. Five goals from Lynch and four goals from Garcia, plus a tally by Dyl, overcame Liverpool’s more balanced effort as Dom Osbeck scored three times, with Joe Sacco getting two goals and three assists. Aaron Clouthier also had three assists.
Now B’ville turned to Thursday’s home game against Cicero-North Syracuse, one that was far removed from their first meeting (an 11-7 win on April 18) because the Northstars had seen its top goal-scorer, Mason Ciciarelli, get lost for the season with a torn ACL in a game against West Genesee a week earlier.
Without Ciciarelli, C-NS was completely shut down and kept off the board, B’ville managing a 14-0 shutout that in every way was different from the battle against Liverpool, partially because three goalies – Nick Cary, Trevor Sutton and Brandon Dusky – combined to stop all 12 of the Northstars’ shots.
It was 10-0 by halftime, the Bees ultimately seeing Brady Garcia leading the attack, backing up his pair of goals with three assists as Garrett Sutton found the net four times and Dyl had three goals and one assist.
Dylan Garcia also got two goals, with Greg Marinelli adding a pair of assists. Brayden Penafeather-Stevenson had a goal and assist with Dylan Wirtheim and Tieman Lynch also converting. Ryan Quinn contributed an assist.
B’ville will have Senior Night next Thursday when it hosts West Genesee and seeks to avenge a 9-8 defeat to the Wildcats in Camillus back in April, this in between games against Webster Thomas and Vestal.
