How things have turned in the long-standing boys lacrosse rivalry between the two sets of Lakers from Cazenovia and Skaneateles.
Where once Skaneateles owned full command of the series, now it’s Cazenovia’s turn to rule, and it never did better than in Tuesday’s visit to Hyatt Stadium, where it took apart those other Lakers, especially on the defensive side, and earned a 10-1 victory.
Timing had a lot to do with it. Cazenovia, no. 10 in the latest state Class C rankings, was steamed after an 8-7 home overtime defeat to Westhill on May 3, the same night that Skaneateles lost to Marcellus 14-9, and was going to take out that anger on the next possible foe.
At the heart of this narrative was the way that Skaneateles shut down in the face of Cazenovia’s defenses.
For three long quarters, the host Lakers never got on the scoreboard as the back line of Joe Colligan, Mike Nourse, Jay Hahn, Eli Mitchell and Keaton Ackermann turned everything away, and when Skaneateles did shoot, Trevor Cross stuffed it, earning 10 saves.
What made it more frustrating for Skaneateles was that its own back line was doing a stellar job of resistance. Staring at top-line attackers like Connor Cannizzaro and Ryan Cook, Skaneateles only allowed five goals in the first three periods, with Max Smith working his way to a total of 14 saves.
Yet as the fourth quarter started, Skaneateles still wasn’t on the board. Jack Dawley finally broke the drought, scoring off a feed from Sam Duggan, but it was far from enough as the visiting Lakers doubled its total in those last 12 minutes.
Cannizzaro ran his total to four goals and one assist as Cook also got a three-goal hat trick. Henry Mann, again controlling the face-offs, added two goals and one assist as P.J. Brown had one goal and one assist. Alex Sullivan added a pair of assists as Jake Falge and Brad Nardella got one assist apiece.
After this conquest, Cazenovia made it back home for Thursday night’s contest against neighbor and rival Chittenango, where it put on a different sort of clinic against the playoff-bound Bears and earned an 18-10 victory to improve its record to 13-2.
Back in its most comfortable mode, the Lakers’ all-out attack led to a breakout late in the first quarter, as it got four straight goals, three of them from Cook, to emerge from a 2-2 tie and move ahead for good.
Cazenovia again outscored the Bears 6-2 in the second period to gain a 12-4 halftime edge, and it spent the rest of the night nursing that margin against an active Bears attack.
Cook reached double digits in points with five goals and five assists, with Cannizzaro also scoring five times. Nardella had three goals and two assists, with Mann adding his own three-goal hat trick as Sullivan and Jake Stowell both had one goal and one assist. Jake Falge got a pair of assists.
In defeat, Chittenango saw Devin Phelps carry the attack with four goals and five assists. Phelps’ passes went to, among others, Robert Whittin, who had two goals and one assist. Kyle Zimmer, Steve Billington, Garrett Sadler and Tristan Williams each got one goal as Aaron Jones added an assist. Connor Shea had 14 saves, the same total as Cross.
The Lakers’ week concluded Saturday with a 13-7 victory over Watertown IHC, where a 9-3 halftime edge held up, despite some late inconsistency. Cook had four goals and three assists, with Cannizzaro and Nardella each scoring three times. P.J. Brown had two goals and one assist as Kyle Brown added a goal and Cannizzaro picked up two assists.
In last Tuesday night’s game against visiting Marcellus, Chittenango could only watch as the state Class C no. 18-ranked Mustangs moved to 11-3 on the season by taking out the Bears 18-4.
Before Chittenango could get settled, Marcellus blasted them in an 8-1 first-quarter blitz, and then extended the margin to double digits (13-3) by halftime.
Even with Phelps scoring twice and goals from Jones and Billington, plus 17 saves from Shea, the Bears were overwhelmed. Tom McNaney (four goals, five assists) and Kevin Hutchings (five goals, three assists) led the Mustangs’ efforts.
After the loss to Cazenovia, the Bears played again Saturday, rallying from behind to beat New Hartford 11-8 Saturday, improving to 7-8 and and, by doing so, securing a Section III playoff berth.
Blanked in the first quarter, Chittenango kept the deficit at 2-0 and chipped away during the next two periods, eventually easing into an 8-7 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Down the stretch, the Bears held on behind three-goal hat tricks from Jones and Whittin, with Phelps getting four assists to go with his lone tally. Sadler had two goals and two assists as Billington contributed two goals and one assist. Zimmer added an assist.
Cazenovia faces Marcellus to close out the regular season Monday night and Chittenango takes on Westhill Tuesday before Wednesday’s announcement of the Section III playoff brackets.
