If the Cazenovia and Christian Brothers Academy boys lacrosse teams have a post-season encounter to look forward to, they’ll both have a lot to draw on, based on their regular-season clash Wednesday night at Alibrandi Stadium.
The Lakers won, 9-6, which is a positive all by itself. But the Brothers learned that it could contain Cazenovia’s high-powered attack, something few opponents have done in the Lakers’ 32-game, two-season win streak.
With its 12-1 mark, CBA had risen to the no. 6 spot in the state Class C rankings, boasting an offense that, anchored by senior Cody Radziewicz, matched Cazenovia’s potency. Thus, it was expected that the Brothers and Lakers would run up and down the field and produce plenty of goals.
Beyond the first quarter, though, that didn’t happen. Cazenovia threatened a rout in the first six minutes as goals by Oliver Gates, Connor Cannizzaro, Brad Nardella and Ryan Cook created a 4-0 lead and forced CBA to use a quick time-out.
It worked for the Brothers, as Radziewicz asserted himself. After feeding J.R. Zazzara and Nick Papayanakos for goals in a 1:39 span to cut the margin in half, Radziewicz charged in himself and scored just 6.5 seconds before the period ended, making it 4-3.
That would be CBA’s last goal until the latter stages of the third period – a drought that stretched out more than 22 minutes of game time.
Switching man-to-man and zone looks, the Lakers’ back line of Doyle Judge (who shadowed Radziewicz), Barclay Talbot, Clay Goris and Mike Nourse used physical play and tenacity to thwart the Brothers on numerous man-up situations.
At the same time, Cazenovia went through its own 20-plus minute drought after Nardella and Cannizzaro scored to make it 6-3 at the break. CBA’s defenders, including Homer Davis, Joey Pascarella, Chris Underwood and Zack Sealy, also relied on a zone to force the Lakers into low-percentage shots.
Both of the goalies – the Lakers’ Trevor Cross and the Brothers’ Dom Facciponte- were outstanding, too, recording 13 saves apiece. So the game, still 6-4 in Cazenovia’s favor going to the fourth quarter, hinged on which side could make a single scoring spurt.
The Lakers did so, as Matt Donovan fought off two defenders for a terrific goal with 10:23 left. Then, in a span of 45 seconds, Jeff Stowell, who didn’t have a goal all season, connected from the point and Gates hit on his second goal, making it 9-4, beyond the Brothers’ reach.
