CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even if it didn’t completely resemble dominant groups of seasons past, there was little question about whether the Baldwinsville boys soccer team was worthy of a championship push.
And the Bees keep building up its win total with the Section III Class AAA playoffs looming and climbed to no. 10 in last week’s state Class AA rankings, feeling immediate pressure to live up to that mark.
It didn’t prove easy as, at the Gillette Road complex last Saturday night, the Bees were kept off the board for a long while before inching in front and defeating the Northstars 1-0.
For more than a half, B’ville chipped away at a tough C-NS defense it had solved twice when they had met in September, and finally it got the go-ahead goal in the second half.
Having shut out the Northstars twice, the Bees turned its attention to Friday’s match against PSLA-Fowler, where, led this time by Andrew Jung, B’ville again earned a shutout, blanking the Falcons 2-0.
Both goals this time came in the first half, each of them from Jung, who before this had only netted three goals all season. Ryan Bullis and Nick Hollingshead both got assists on those goals.
Baldwinsville’s girls soccer team hosted Jamesville-DeWitt last Tuesday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium and had one of its best all-around performances of the season in a 3-1 win over the Red Rams.
The Bees converted twice in the first half and then got away late, seeing Nadia Guzman and Gabriella Valentine each earn goals and the defense hold J-D to just three overall shots.
B’ville prevailed again at Oswego Friday night, breaking out on offense and running all over the Buccaneers on the way to an 8-2 victory.
Scoring four times in each half, the Bees were led by Nicole Pelletier, who earned a three-goal hat trick as Audra Salvagni chimed in with two goals and one assist.
Maddie Simons, Natalie Hollingshead and Aubrey Rizzo each found the net, too, with Valentine, Kelsey Dwyer and Natalie Bartkowiak all joining Hollingshead and Salvagni in the assist column.
Having improved to 9-5-1 overall, B’ville closes the regular season Thursday night at home against Liverpool as the boys Bees welcomed West Genesee for Tuesday’s Senior Night and plays Saturday at Liverpool in what could prove a post-season preview.
