Gathered under the new lights at the Sean Googin Sports Complex, the Cazenovia and Chittenango girls soccer teams engaged in a classic.
It was the Lakers that emerged from Monday night’s battle with a 3-2 victory, not secured until Audrey Burbidge converted with just two minutes left in regulation.
Prior to that, both sides had reason to smile. The Bears found itself in a defensive mode for much of the game, desperately trying to thwart the efforts of Cazenovia’s red-hot forward, Kristie Klein.
It didn’t work in the first half, though, as Klein twice beat Chittenango goalie Sierra Shafer, helping the Lakers grab a 2-1 halftime edge.
But the Bears weren’t done, tying it 2-2 in the second half. By that point, Kaitlin Antelmi had earned one goal and assisted on the other, by Lauren Billington. Allie Cerio had assisted on Antelmi’s scoring play.
Shafer, meanwhile, continued to excel, working her way to 14 saves, more than twice the total of Cazenovia counterpart Jamie Enders as the two sides appeared headed for 20 minutes of overtime.
Just before that happened, though, Klein, caught in traffic late in the second half, fed a perfect pass to Burbidge, who calmly slipped the decisive goal past Shafer’s grasp.
Two nights later, Cazenovia had a much easier time of it against Phoenix, unleashing a well-balanced attack in a 7-1 romp over the Firebirds.
It was already 5-0 by halftime, and while Klein again scored twice, so did Hannah Rousell, earning her first two goals of the season. Burbidge finished with a goal and two assists, with Abbie McEntee and Clare Costello also converting. Kelsi Fredericks also had two assists.
This set up a big opportunity for the Lakers on Friday night as undefeated, state no. 3-ranked Marcellus paid a visit to the Googin complex.
Cazenovia could not take advantage of it, though, falling 2-0 to the Mustangs. Enders, under constant attack, made nine saves, and did not allow too much, but one goal in each half proved enough for Marcellus as Brielle Filtch scored once and assisted on Madison Belvito’s tally.
As this went on, Chittenango fell again, 1-0, to Skaneateles. Shafer’s nine saves were not quite enough as Tate Green’s first-half goal held up. None of the Bears’ six shots got past Lakers goalie Mary Buck.
