Buoyed by its second-half sure that derailed Skaneateles on Sept. 6, the Cazenovia girls soccer team followed it up with one of the highest single-game totals in school history.
The Lakers flattened Hannibal 15-1 last Tuesday afternoon, converting on a third of the 45 shots it took during the match and topping the 13 it put up against Jordan-Elbridge two weeks earlier.
Maddie Gavitt, whose natural hat trick keyed the Skaneateles win, found the net four times here as it was Chloe Bergesson’s turn to get three goals, a career-best total.
Lilli Gavitt joined her sister with a two-goal outing as single goals went to Julia Bauder, Annie Baldwin, Akberet Tella and Molly Dolan. Emily Reiff and Taylor Tillison each picked up an assist.
A day later, against Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, the Lakers continued to light it up, ripping the Rebels 8-1 with the benefit of scoring six times in the first half, allowing the full roster to see some game action.
With three more goals, Gavitt ran her season total to 17, the most in Section III, while Grace Rajkowski also scored three times, while Reiff and Tillison also found the net, Tillison getting two assists as Tell and Lilli Gavitt had single assists.
It figured to get a lot tougher on Saturday when Cazenovia hosted Cortland, and the Purple Tigers, a perennial contender, showed why that was the case, defeating the Lakers 4-1.
Maddie Gavitt did assist on Lili Gavitt’s goals, but the Lakers managed nothing more as Cortland got two goals from Jordan Ostrander, each of them unassisted, plus goals by Lillian Quick and Ella Quick, negating Tessa Hansknecht’s nine saves.
As that was going on, the Chittenango girls soccer team earned one of its biggest victories in years, upending reigning Section III and state Class B champion Westhill 2-1 in overtime.
On its home turf, the Bears kept the Warriors scoreless during the first half, and when Westhill did convert in the second half on Sophia Caron’s goal, Chittenango did so, too, leading to 20 minutes of extra soccer.
And it was in the OT that the Bears seized the lead for good, rewarding a hard-working defense anchored by goalie Ava Dardaris, who stopped 20 of the Warriors’ 21 shots. Ally Shoemaker and Madison Wagner converted for the Bears.
As Cazenovia was burying Hannibal, Chittenango was at Mexico, and while this game was far less lopsided, the Bears still shut out the Tigers 2-0.
Mexico goalie Briana Urquhart managed 20 saves, and kept the game 0-0 until the second half, when Sarah Martin converted twice for Chittenango. The Bears’ defense was active, too, Ava Dardaris having to make 13 saves to preserve the shutout.
The big win over Westhill followed, leaving the Bears at 5-2 going into Tuesday’s game at Phoenix, its only action this week. Cazenovia (4-3) has its own match with Mexico before hosting Solvay on Friday.
