All that was left for the Cazenovia girls soccer team to do was take out a big-name foe somewhere before the post-season.
That opportunity arrived again Thursday at the Fenner Road complex, when the Lakers hosted Westhill, the leaders in the OHSL Liberty division.
Going against the trend, Cazenovia seemed to warm up as the weather grew colder, fitting all the pieces together for an enormous 2-0 victory over the Warriors. So far, Cazenovia is 6-0 on the season at home.
Usually, in a game like this, a team will emphasize the defense, making sure that no opposing forward gets any open looks.
But the Lakers did the exact opposite in this contest, constantly streaking into the Warriors’ end to apply pressure to a formidable back line that was just coming off its own shutouts of Marcellus and Skaneateles.
And when the Warriors honed in on Mackenzie Moore, Katie Kleine took full advantage. The freshman had her biggest varsity performance to date, putting home both of Cazenovia’s goals.
Kleine’s first tally came in the first half, as she burst up the middle, took a perfect feed from Moore, and beat Westhill goalie Lauren Snyder. In the second half, another breakaway saw Sarah Wright feed it to Kleine, who poured in her second goal of the afternoon.
All game long, Cazenovia’s defense stood out, too. Wright, Kara Cannizzaro, Katie Wheeler, Ashleigh Baldwin and Whitney Goris stayed back and were steady, limiting the Warriors to just six shots, all of them stopped by Claire Dorsey.
Just before that, the Lakers went to Solvay last Monday night and fared quite well, outlasting the Bearcats 2-1.
Cannizzaro proved to be the offensive anchor, scoring one goal and assisting on the other, by Moore. Overall, Cazenovia put on a lot of pressure, earning 18 shots. Dorsey helped her team hang on, finishing with seven saves.
On Tuesday, the Lakers went to Jordan-Elbridge, after which it hosts Skaneateles on Friday and has a Saturday trip to Watertown.
