For now, the Cazenovia field hockey team is all too glad to have the most difficult portion of its regular-season slate behind them.
When the Lakers played Weedsport to a 1-1 tie in Tuesday afternoon’s showdown, it marked the end of a stretch that had included five games in nine days, four of them on the road.
Cazenovia had torn through its first five opponents by a combined 33-0 margin, but the start of the gauntlet on Sept. 15, a 3-1 win over Port Byron, not only broke up the shutout streak, but also signaled that future opponents would not roll over as easily.
Sure enough, in the Sept. 19-20 O’Connor Classic at Camden, the Lakers suffered its first loss of the season, 2-0, to 2013 state Class B finalist Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, and then had to work hard in the consolation game just to edge Rome Free Academy 1-0.
After all that, Cazenovia had just two days to rest and recuperate before making the trip west for its only regular-season clash with Weedsport, whose own 7-0 start had included six shutouts, five of them in a row, and outscoring its foes by a combined 21-1.
Yet the Lakers offered the Warriors its toughest defensive challenge yet. From the outset, Cazenovia’s deep, versatile attack made runs into Weedsport’s end, setting up shots and penalty corners, but getting nothing past formidable goalie Abby Marsden.
It remained 0-0 until the second half, when the Lakers broke through thanks to an unassisted goal from Gabby Yates. But the Warriors found the net, too, as Lexi Randall poked a shot past Kimber Nourse.
Regulation ended with that tie, and even with 10 minutes of seven-on-seven overtime play, no one could win it. In the end, Marsden made sure of the tie, turning away 16 of the 17 Cazenovia shots she faced, while Nourse, who had six saves, got solid defensive help from the likes of Meredith Shephard and Maddie Langey.
