Cold winds, cold temperatures and various forms of precipitation did not keep the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team from another impressive conquest.
The Lakers faced perennial Class A contender Baldwinsville Saturday morning at Cazenovia College’s Christakos Field, starting and finishing fast and delivering a 13-5 victory over the Bees.
B’ville came into the game with a 3-0 record, the same as Cazenovia, but it didn’t take long for the reigning state Class C champions to take over.
Ignoring the 10 a.m. start time, the Lakers woke up the Bees by roaring out to a 5-0 first-quarter lead, with P.J. Brown and Alex Hunt both scoring twice in the early barrage and Cole Willard adding a goal.
Just as quickly, though, B’ville settled down and, in the second quarter, managed to shut out Cazenovia, using long and patient possessions to earn four unanswered goals and cut the deficit to 5-4 going into halftime.
It took just a minute of play in the second half for Henry Mann to break that drought, but there wasn’t an immediate follow-up, as Hunt returned to score late in the period to make it 7-4. Still, it had time to regroup, since Cazenovia’s defense, led by Mike Nourse and Eli Mitchell, was taking away all of the Bees’ lanes and forcing turnovers.
And in the fourth quarter, the Lakers got away with a 6-1 flourish. Hunt, breaking out in a way that Willard did a week earlier in the March 28 opener against CBA, earned two more goals in that final period to give him five for the day, while Brown also scored twice to run his total to four. Mann and Willard added late goals, too.
The battle with B’ville came at the end of a stretch where Cazenovia won three times in four days on three separate fields.
It started last Wednesday against Onondaga, the game moved from the Tigers’ home turf to Morrisville State, where Jason Longo, the son of head coach Jim Longo, has led the program since 2010.
Cazenovia had no trouble here, shutting out the Tigers 17-0. Five different Lakers had goals in an 8-0 first quarter, and the margin grew to 12-0 by halftime, the romp only slowed down by a running clock in the second half.
Teddy Dwyer broke through with four goals and one assist. Mann and Brown each finished with three goals and one assist as Jake Lewis found the net twice. Willard contributed a goal and two assists, with Hunt, Keaton Ackermann, Derek White and Kevin Porter also scoring. Peter Burr and Sam Langan got credited with assists.
Just 24 hours later, in a game moved to Colgate University’s Tyler Field, Cazenovia smashed past Clinton in much the same manner, prevailing 17-2.
The margin was 9-0 by the end of the first quarter and 13-0 by halftime as White put up a career-best four goals, plus an assist.
Willard and Brown both finished with three goals and two assists, while Hunt got his first varsity hat trick, earning three goals and one assist. Mann had a goal and two assists, helped by Jake Lewis, Ryan Henderson and T.J. Connelian, with one goal apiece.
In its only action last week, Cazenovia’s girls lacrosse team took too long to get going, ultimately paying a price for it in last Tuesday night’s 10-7 defeat to Westhill.
Except for Audrey Burbidge’s goal that tied it 1-1, the Lakers were quiet in the early portion of the first half and fell behind, 4-1. Grace Milmoe cut the margin to two, but the Warriors struck twice more and carried a 6-2 advantage to the break.
It didn’t get much better early in the second half, Cazenovia’s deficit growing to 9-3. Finally, a string of three straight goals cut the deficit in half, but again the Lakers slowed down, allowing Westhill to regroup and play strong defense down the stretch, only allowing Dana Kiselica’s goal with 3:37 to play, which was far from enough.
Milmoe and Sarah Willard each finished with two goals, with Abbie McEntee joining Burbidge and Kiselica in the one-goal column. Jessie Matt added an assist as goalie Zantha Hourigan made six saves. Liz McAnaney, Natalie Jetter and Haileigh Farrell led the Warriors with two goals apiece.
The girls Lakers travel to defending Section III Class C champion Skaneateles on Tuesday before a Friday visit to Jordan-Elbridge, while Cazenovia’s boys go to Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes on Tuesday and are back home Thursday night to take on Tully.
