Bad weather in the north country denied the Cazenovia ice hockey team a chance to play Ontario Bay Jan. 28 at the Morrisville State IcePlex, where a win would have clinched for the Lakers a Section III playoff berth.
But it was clear last Monday night as the Lakers made up its snowed-out Jan. 24 meeting with Liverpool at the IcePlex, a game where big surges in the early and late going by the Warriors made the difference in a 10-3 defeat.
Starting strong, Liverpool gained a 4-1 lead by the end of the first period. From there, it remained steady until the third period, where the Warriors found the net five times to wrestle away any Cazenovia hopes.
Nate Morgan had a part in all three of Cazenovia’s goals, scoring once and assisting on tallies from Trey Schug and R.J. Smith. Chase Cross also had an assist as goalie Cameron Dye recorded 20 saves. Tyler Dorval led Liverpool with four goals and two assists as Jeff Gentile recorded four assists.
The Lakers didn’t play again until Saturday, at New Hartford, where in the first period it surrendered seven goals, never able to recover from that barrage in an 11-2 defeat to the Spartans.
Staring at that early 7-0 deficit, Cazenovia did play better the rest of the way, with Morgan assisting on goals by Geoff Christensen and Steve LaFever. Dye made 25 saves as New Hartford saw Jack Engdahl pick up four goals and two assists, with Shane Calhoun adding a goal and five assists.
What’s left for the Lakers are three games in four days – a Wednesday visit to Auburn, followed by Friday’s key game against Ontario Bay and Saturday’s regular-season finale against Whitesboro.
