Maybe the Baldwinsville girls lacrosse team allowed Cicero-North Syracuse to catch them once this season, but not a second time, when far more was at stake.
The Bees put up 6-0 and 5-0 runs at crucial moments of Tuesday’s Section III Class AA championship game at Christian Brothers Academy’s Alibrandi Stadium and, spurred by its well-balanced attack, defeated the Northstars 18-11 to repeat as sectional champions.
Five different players – Brianna Peters, Carlie Desimone, Mia Pozzi, Sophia Muscolino and Sierra Natoli – earned three-goal hat tricks as B’ville seized control near the midway point of the first half and never gave it back.
“We narrowed in on every single detail and practiced against every single play they (C-NS) run,” said Pozzi. “And when every person on the field can score, that makes us tough to stop.”
Head coach Megan Tabor said the key to the victory was “focusing on the little things, like not turning the ball over. Possession of the ball makes a huge difference.”
Two highly competitive regular-season meetings were split, the second of these an overtime loss early in May which demonstrated that, even as reigning state champion, B’ville still had room to grow.
Mainly, that involved an evolution of its offense that was less dependent on the trio of Desimone, Peters and Pozzi, and could blend in more players that could hurt the opposition.
The Bees and Northstars traded goals in the first nine minutes before B’ville began to dominate every phase of the game, starting with Pozzi and Sophia Ianno grabbing most of the draws.
That led to the 6-0 run. Peters, Pozzi, Muscolino, Nataoli, Jaya Madigan and Leah Otts all put shots past Nicole Mirra and the Bees found itself enjoying an 8-2 lead.
Natoli hit twice more and stretched the margin to 10-3 late in the half, so once again C-NS found itself working from behind, but gave itself a chance at yet another unlikely comeback.
Mackenzie Prentice and Shea Firth both converted in the last 90 seconds of the half. Then Gabby Putman scored 35 seconds into the second half, and the Bees’ comfortable margin was down to 10-6.
Again, B’ville had an emphatic answer. Muscolino’s second and third goals, along with back-to-back tallies from Carlie Desimone and a third goal from Peters, stretched the lead to 15-6 with 17 minutes to play.
Picking up its level of play, C-NS made a run of its own, netting three goals in less than three minutes to make it 15-9, but any doubts about the outcome were erased when Pozzi hit on her second and third goals of the night and Desimone completed her hat trick.
“This team knows how to play in big games and not get nervous,” said Tabor.
Still angry after an overtime defeat to South Jefferson in the May 18 regular-season finale, B’ville took it out on no. 4 seed Rome Free Academy in the May 25 sectional semifinal at Central Square.
The Bees’ 19-4 win over the Black Knights included 13 goals in the first half. Desimone, with her six assists, spread it around to Peters, who scored four times, along with Pozzi, who had three goals and three assists.
Otts and freshman Jaya Madigan also notched three-goal hat tricks as single goals went to Natoli, Bella Murabito and Olivia Bartlett, with Peyton Dyl getting an assist.
After winning the sectional final, B’ville took on Corning in Thursday’s regional final at Ithaca High School, where it built up a big early lead and cruised past the Hawks 17-10.
Steadily, the Bees gained a 9-3 edge by halftime and then nursed that margin throughout the second half as Desimone led the way with six goals and one assist.
Peters and Pozzi both scored four times, with single goals going to Muscolino, Madigan and Alexza Zalla. Otts and Cassidy Primrose got credit for assists.
So it’s back to the state championship weekend where, next Friday at 1 p.m. at Cortland High School, B’ville will face the Long Island champions (Northport or Massapequa) in the semifinals, the winner advancing to Saturday’s 2 p.m. title game at SUNY-Cortland.
