Even as the temperatures warmed up, the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team dealt with the first cold reality of its season in the form of back-to-back defeats. The Bees were 2-0, but not seriously tested so far in 2009, when it paid a Thursday-afternoon visit to Fayetteville-Manlius. Here, a poor second half proved costly in a 14-7 loss to the Hornets. Knowing that F-M’s defense would try and bottle up Billy Ward, the rest of the Bees stepped up early, as Nick Gaworecki scored twice in the first quarter and B’ville took leads of 1-0 and 3-2 to make the Hornets take notice. F-M rallied to tie it, 4-4, then blanked the Bees in the second quarter as a series of turnovers hit both sides. Only Matt Taylor’s goal allowed the Hornets to go to the break with a 5-4 lead. Ward, with just one assist in the first half, scored twice early in the third period. But after the second of those goals, F-M took control with four unanswered goals and would let the Bees score just once the rest of the way. Both Gaworecki and Kyle Styer joined Ward with two-goal outings, with Tim Hayden also converting. Taylor, an F-M senior going to Cornell University next year, burned the Bees’ defense often, finishing with four goals and four assists. In defeat, goalie Pat Briggs recorded 15 saves. So began a stretch where, in a span of 12 days, the Bees would play seven times, none as tough as Saturday’s visit to Camillus to meet defending state Class A champion West Genesee. Here, the result would prove to be similar to the F-M game, as B’ville stayed within range for a half, then fall back in a 13-6 loss to the Wildcats. Shut out in the first quarter, B’ville’s defense had to work hard to keep the game close, and a pair of scoring plays in the second period allowed the Bees to be within one, 4-3, as they went to halftime. Sensing the danger, WG struck with regularity during a 6-0 third-quarter spurt that proved decisive. Ike Hopper (four goals), Jordan Rogers and Jim Marks (three goals each) led that push. Meanwhile, Ward, under pressure all afternoon, managed just one goal and one assist. Evan States did score twice, with Kaval, Styer and Alex Gailor also earning goals. Briggs finished with 18 saves. As a warm-up for F-M, the Bees just went wild against overmatched Utica Proctor, roaring to a 29-0 victory over the Raiders. B’ville had 23 goals by halftime, a number partially explained by Ward going out and picking up five goals and 12 assists. The 17 points and 12 assists both broke school records Jack Venditti set two seasons ago. Often, those passes went to Kevin Whitcomb (six goals and three assists), Nick Gaworecki (five goals, four assists) and Cookie Caloia (four goals, four assists). Kaval, Styer and Tim Hayden had two goals apiece as David Middlemore, Jake Edison and Casey Colligan earned single goals. Niko Manning added an assist. B’ville visited Liverpool on Monday to make up a snowed-out April 7 date before games against Nottingham, Oswego and Auburn to complete this full and challenging slate.