Auburn — Whether the Cazenovia ice hockey team skates to a championship or not in 2015-16, it may not do anything as remarkable as what took place within a span of less than four minutes Friday night at Casey Park Rink.

Trailing undefeated Auburn by three goals, and staring at a second consecutive lopsided defeat against a fellow Division II National Conference contender, the Lakers turned the game – and perhaps its season – around with a furious comeback that led to a stunning 5-4 victory over the Maroons.

To that point, everything had gone wrong during the week for Cazenovia, starting with a 7-0 road loss to New Hartford on Dec. 15. Then it went to Auburn, and things didn’t start well here, either.

Goals by Matt Hesse and Tyler Ely had the Maroons up, 2-0, through one period, and Cazenovia’s deficit grew when Hesse scored again 4:35 into the second period. By this point, the Lakers had gone more than two full games without netting any goal.

Finally, that drought ended when Colin McGaugh, capping off a stretch of sustained pressure, scored to cut Auburn’s lead to 3-1. That only seemed a brief respite, though, as in the third period things got more bleak, Cazenovia committing two penalties and, in the ensuing five-on-three, seeing the Maroons’ Casey Komanecky find the net with 8:26 left.

So the Lakers trailed, 4-1, and with less than six minutes to play, it was still that score when, out of nowhere, a stunning turnaround took place.

When Jake Lewis’ shot from the point made it through a screen into the net with 5:28 left, it gave Cazenovia a pulse. Then, barely a minute later, the Lakers attacked again, and Nate Morgan banged home a rebound, and Auburn’s once-comfortable margin was down to one, 4-3.

Newly energized, Cazenovia kept coming, and tied it, 4-4, when Brenden Whalen converted off a bad angle with 2:31 left in regulation. Reeling, the Maroons turned it over again and, 21 seconds later, saw Morgan tip in the go-ahead goal.

Those four goals took place in a span of just three minutes, 18 seconds. It culminated an effort where Cazenovia out-shot Auburn, 38-27, but had to stay patient and wait until the end of the night to see that pressure rewarded.

Now the Lakers take a season’s worth of momentum into the Cortland-Homer Tournament, which takes place next Saturday and Sunday and predates a Jan. 2 showdown with reigning state Division II champion Skaneateles at the Morrisville State IcePlex.