CENTRAL NEW YORK – When it came back from a Western New York trip with a win over Williamsville North on the last day of September, the Baldwinsville field hockey team believed it was ready for a late-season surge.
That belief was halted two nights later at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, when the Bees faced Fayetteville-Manlius and could not get on the board in a 1-0 defeat to the Hornets.
Back when they first met Sept. 11, B’ville won by that same 1-0 margin, the lone goal coming from Ella Holtman in the third quarter, and the rematch was just as close.
Sound defense kept the Bees in it to make up for a dearth of chances, as it took just one direct shot at the F-M net. Chloe Butler finished with seven saves.
Yet Butler could not keep Brooke Southwick from getting the Hornets on the board, the goal holding up the rest of the way.
Now on the road to face Holland Patent on Wednesday night, the Bees would put up 60 minutes of tremendous defense as neither side was able to get on the board.
However, in the seven-on-seven overtime session, the Golden Knights prevailed 1-0 when Nadia Foley scored off a feed from her sister, Lily Foley. It was the only shot Butler was not able to stop, having made nine saves beforehand.
What remains in the last week of the regular season is a trip to defending sectional Class A champion Cicero-North Syracuse next Wednesday in between a Monday visit from Little Falls and an Oct. 14 game with Auburn, one day before the sectional Class A playoff brackets are announced.
