CICERO – It was just where the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team wanted it.
At Bragman Stadium last Saturday afternoon the Bees held a four-goal lead on undefeated West Genesee in the Section III Class A championship game, displaying the same kind of consistent success on offense it had found in two previous close encounters with the Wildcats.
Yet a combination of sheer possession time, a couple of breakout performances and the near-perfect timing of some key goals turned game in WG’s favor, and for the second year in a row a sectional final went against B’ville, this time in a 15-10 decision.
That the Bees who pushed the Wildcats really wasn’t a surprise. Aside from an overtime win over Jamesville-DeWitt on April 24, no other local opponent for WG had caused so much trouble than B’ville, who lost their previous two encounters by a combined three goals 18-16 and 15-14.
Add rain and a chilly wind which more resembled a season opener than a sectional title game, and another element of unpredictability was in place before the game started and the Bees got off to a near-ideal start.
Whether it was making defensive stops or continuing to find success against WG’s back line, B’ville jumped out 4-1 by the end of the opening period, then stretched it out to 7-2 in the early portion of the second period led by Zach Bice’s three goals and two goals apiece from Brady Garcia and Matt Niedzialek.
In each of those previous two games with WG the Bees could not stop Charlie Lockwood, who scored seven times in both of those contests, so here the clear focus was to get the ball away from him in dangerous situations.
Yet it was Lockwood turning the game around with his passes to Jacob Pensabene on back-to-back fast-break tallies followed by a Jake McMahon goal.Even bigger was the shot Chace Cogan put past Bees’ goalie Jake Seefeldt with five seconds left in the half which reduce B’ville’s margin to a single goal, 7-6.
A back-and-forth third quarter followed. Dylan and Brady Garcia netted goals while Cogan, McMahon and Jonah Vormwold did the same, leaving the teams at 9-9 as the period wound down.
But just like Cogan did at the end of the second, Pensabene found the net in the waning seconds. This involved getting to the edge of Seefeldt’s crease, falling and somehow managing to flick a shot past a defender and Seefeldt into the net.
Charged up by this and helped by Vormwold winning 25 of the 28 face-offs he took, WG got away in the fourth quarter, Pensabene working his total to five goals and Cogan to four goals while Lockwood sealed it with back-to-back tallies.
All told Seefelt made 14 saves, twice that of Wildcats counterpart Jon Shoults. Iggy LoMedico tacked on a late goal as Bice and Brady Garcia led the Bees with three goals apiece.
For the second season in a row B’ville lost in the sectional final to go with its defeat to Liverpool in 2024. Now it will see LoMedico, Dylan Garcia, Brady Garcia and Tieman Lynch graduate, taking 150 goals of production with them, though Bice and Niedzialek lead the returning cast for the 2026 campaign.
