Even though they might be careening toward another confrontation in the Section III Class A playoffs a few weeks from now, the Baldwinsville and Liverpool field hockey teams still had a chance to measure each other once more in the regular season. The two neighbors met Thursday night at LHS Stadium – and despite playing defense for much of the night, the Bees still came out on top over the Warriors, 1-0, on Paige Corso’s rebound goal late in the second half. They had first played Sept. 20, at Baldwinsville’s grass home field, with the Bees prevailing 2-0 and rarely giving Liverpool any kind of scoring opportunity. It figured to be different on the Warriors’ fast artificial surface, and the Bees, following road losses to Rome Free Academy and Vestal, needed to show it could win a tough game on a faster track. Both teams started slowly after Liverpool’s Senior Night festivities, but the Bees were spending most of the time in its own end, forcing coach James Hanley to spend a time-out just four minutes into the contest. Gradually, B’ville got more runs, but it never took a shot in the entire half. Thus, defenders like Liz Ventura, Laura Passamnote, Nicole Piontkowski and Emily Brissenden took on a larger role, turning away the likes of Emma Lamison when they charged into the Bees’ end. And goalie Lindsay Farrell came 15 yards out of the net to make a crucial save at the 10-minute mark. So it was 0-0 at halftime, and as the second half started B’ville became more organized, even getting a handful of penalty corners, though none of them got converted. At the same time, Liverpool’s attacks were more sporadic, and it was apparent that one goal would decide matters. Just after the Warriors took a time-out with 7:24 to play, the Bees attacked and forced a penalty corner. With 6:59 left, Natalie Lynch took a hard shot from the point and, though Tess Tracy stopped it, Corso was right there to put the rebound into the cage. Liverpool fought to the last moments, getting a pair of penalty corners, but was unable to even get on shot on either of them as the clock ran out – and B’ville had its 11th win of the season, all of them shutouts. Two days later, when the Bees visited Fayetteville-Manlius, it dominated the flow of play, yet still took a 1-0 loss to the Hornets. Most of the time, B’ville attacked F-M, setting itself in front of the cage and shooting away. Every time, though, Hornets goalie Abby Cunningham kicked it away, eventually gaining 25 saves for the afternoon. The Bees could not convert despite 18 penalty corners. Rarely did F-M try to counter – but it forced a penalty corner midway through the first half and, taking a feed from Tara Wellington, Kendra Napierala flung a shot past Farrell for what proved to be the only goal. Right before the trip to Liverpool, the Bees got the proper warm-up in last Tuesday’s game against Auburn, putting together an 8-0 romp over the Maroons. Ahead 4-0 by halftime, B’ville doubled that margin behind Lynch, who set a new career mark with four goals. Meghan Cuddy found the net twice, while Lindsay Varga got a goal and two assists. Paige McKenna earned a goal, too. Meanwhile, defending Class A champion Rome Free Academy showed up last Tuesday night – and it ended in a 0-0 draw. Liverpool’s defense, led by Emily Burns, Michelle Hopkins, Amanda Muldoon and Alyssa Mills, did a terrific job of protection, and Tess Tracy kicked away all six shots she faced. Yet the Warriors, despite its constant pressure, could not pull out in front, Danielle Famolaro stuffing them with 16 saves.