CAMILLUS – At various points through the decades, the Baldwinsville boys soccer team had experienced struggles against all of its large-school rivals, with one big exception.
Through good seasons and bad, the Bees always seemed to get the best of West Genesee, only experiencing a defeat in the 2020-21 COVID-19 season.
All of that changed Tuesday night, though, when B’ville went to Camillus and, pushed into overtime, saw an unlucky break translate into a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Wildcats.
The game had gone through the entire second half and one 10-minute OT period 1-1, but early in the second OT an attack by WG produced a free kick.
When the ball glanced off the hand of a Bees player inside the 18-yard box, the Wildcats were awarded a penalty kick. Sasha Pushkarenko went to the spot – and fired it past B’ville goalie Enzo Falso to win it.
Each of the team’s regulation goals came in the first half. Jake McMahon tallied for WG off a feed from Jeff Mercer, but the Bees converted, too, setting up the long stalemate broken by Pushkarenko’s game-winner.
Having fallen to 1-4 overall, B’ville looked for a remedy Thursday when it was supposed to face a struggling Cicero-North Syracuse at the Northstars’ Gillette Road complex – but that game got postponed.
Instead, the Bees resume its season next Tuesday night hosting Henninger, eagerly awaiting a rematch with Liverpool (whom it lost to 1-0 earlier in the month) Saturday at 11 a.m. at LHS Stadium.
