Whether the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team must beat Homer again to lay claim to another Section III Class C title, as it did in the Carrier Dome a season ago, it certainly knows the challenge it will face.
The Lakers and Trojans got together last Tuesday night on the turf at Fayetteville-Manlius, and though it never trailed, Cazenovia had to work until the final horn to gain a 7-6 victory.
Having already survived a tough trip to Skaneateles on April 2 (it won 8-6 with goals in the last 30 seconds from Jake Stowell and Cole Willard after trailing the entire first half), the Lakers braced itself for Homer, a game that took a different path.
Stowell, this time, got the game’s first goal, and after Homer tied it 1-1, P.J. Brown answered, and the Lakers carried that 2-1 lead into the second quarter.
Derek White, taking a feed from Adam Race, extended Cazenovia’s lead and began a mini-surge that included Stowell’s second goal and White assisting on a goal by Jake Lewis. With the defense blanking Homer the rest of the half, the Lakers took a 5-1 advantage to the break.
Unfazed by this, Homer would spend the second half eating away at that Laker lead. Dean Riley, with four goals, and Anthony Basile, with two goals and one assist, would spur the rally.
Other than Brown’s second goal, Cazenovia was kept quiet in the third quarter, seeing its lead cut in half, to 6-3. Then the Trojans moved within 6-5 as time wound down before the Lakers forced a big turnover, got a breakaway and saw White finish it off to make it 7-5.
And that goal was needed. Riley converted with 41.5 seconds left, again reducing the margin the one, but the Lakers were able to kill off the remaining time, and again got a stellar effort from goalie Brenden Whalen, who turned back 11 of Homer’s 17 shots.
This led to Thursday’s game at Chittenango against defending Class B champion Jamesville-DeWitt, a long-awaited clash of powers that lived up to the hype and was tense all the way into overtime, where the Red Rams pulled it out 7-6.
A quiet first quarter saw just one goal, from Brown. Hunt’s goal, assisted by Stowell, made it 2-0 early in the second period, and after J-D got on the board, Willard and White both converted, giving the Lakers a 4-1 cushion.
But it all turned at the end of the first half. Back-to-back goals landed J-D within one, 4-3, and that momentum carried over as the Rams took a 5-4 lead before Willard tied it again.
Much of the final period was scoreless. With 2:28 left, Brown put one past Joe Morgan, and the Lakers led 6-5, but just 26 seconds later J-D answered, and the game went to OT, where Griffin Cook, off a feed from Anthony DiGiovanni, managed to beat Whalen for the game-winner.
Another big test awaited the Lakers on Tuesday when it paid a visit to unbeaten Westhill, followed by a Saturday visit from South Jefferson.
