ONONDAGA COUNTY – All through December and January, the Cazenovia ice hockey team refused to give up hope on having a season, going further than others in their dedication to the sport.
With the Morrisville State College IcePlex closed, a group of Lakers players resorted to holding practices on an outdoor rink, not only staying active, but celebrating the game’s Canadian roots on outdoor frozen ponds.
Finally, “high-risk” sports in New York State were cleared, and the Lakers began practice in earnest for what it knew would be an abbreviated season with only a handful of games quickly put together, all on the road.
And the first three of those games would take place in as many nights, starting Tuesday when it faced Cortland-Homer at Allyn Arena in Skaneateles.
Though Cazenovia lost, 5-2, to the Golden Eagles, it still put up a strong effort as Forrest Ives and Jacob Owens turned in goals, with Ethan Isbell, Andrew Parkhurst and Bryson Weaver earning one assist apiece.
In the net, Lakers goalie Cy McCrink recorded 34 saves. Cortland-Homer’s Jed Brazo scored twice and assisted on the Golden Eagles’ other three goals as Mitchell Riter got two goals and two assists.
A night later, Cazenovia faced Liverpool at the State Fair Coliseum, to where the Warriors returned as a home venue after years at what is now called Three Rivers Athletic Complex in Lysander.
Here, the Lakers broke into the win column, largely due to Parkhurst, who went to the forefront early and never let up until Cazenovia had shut out Liverpool 5-0.
A trio of first-period goals put the Lakers in control, and it scored twice more in the third period as, all along, Parkhurst kept getting open and kept converting.
Ultimately, Parkhurst had four of the five goals and assisted on the other, by Owens, with Ives picking up three assists and John Dudrick earning two assists.
As that went on, Cazenovia’s defense contained Liverpool well, the Warriors only managing 16 shots, all stopped by McCrink.
This early stretch concluded Thursday with Cazenovia going up against a Skaneateles side sporting a 53-game unbeaten streak and a 12-0 record this winter.
Unlike eight of Skaneateles’ previous 12 foes, Cazenovia was able to pick up a goal as Jacob Grevelding found the net off a feed from Jack Donlin.
Still, Skaneateles prevailed 11-1, overcoming 26 saves from Owen Bailey by having Garrett Krieger pick up four goals and two assists, with Drew Henderson (two goals, three assists) and Charlie Major (one goal, three assists) also flourishing.
Cazenovia is scheduled for two more games late this week, going to Cicero Twin Rinks to face Fayetteville-Manlius Thursday and traveling to Oswego Friday night.
