With one defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse in the recent memory bank, and a rematch on the new turf at Bragman Stadium looming a week ahead, the Liverpool field hockey team wanted, at the least, a good performance out of Monday night’s home game against Class C powerhouse.
But it had no idea just how good – or memorable – it would be.
Taking its famed “Refuse to Lose” mantra to its literal extreme, the Warriors trailed the reigning Section III Class C champion Lakers late in the second half, only to rally in the final minutes to produce a 3-2 victory over the Lakers.
That game did much more than improve Liverpool’s overall record to 6-3. It created a tidal wave of momentum that could carry the Warriors through the rest of the regular season, including clash with C-NS, who knocked off defending Class B champion East Syracuse-Minoa 4-0 for its sixth straight win.
It was Senior Night, the last regular-season home game for a group of nine Warriors players, including Megan Evangelista, Gabriella Pascarella and Kylie Tucker, all of whom would be involved in the main drama by game’s end.
And it was that ending that would make the evening a classic.
Cazenovia, playing without star forward Sarah Willard due to illness, went in front 2-1 early in the second half on Sarah Liddell’s goal, assisted by Zoe Shephard, all of this following a nifty between-the-legs pass from Rachel McLaughlin.
For much of the latter stages, the Lakers had difficulty establishing any kind of attack, but saw Evangelista continue to make big stops on her way to 12 saves that kept it a one-goal game.
Liverpool waited for a counter-attack – and got it when sophomore Brianna Socker tore down the field with regulation time starting to wind down. At just the right moment, Socker passed to the middle, where Tucker timed her shot right and flung it past Cazenovia goalie Kimber Nourse with 2:34 to play in regulation, forging a 2-2 tie.
Energized by the goal and by the home fans, the Warriors withstood a Laker charge and then, in the final seconds, forced the Lakers to concede a penalty corner, which had to be played out, even though the LHS Stadium clock had expired.
Staying focused, the Warriors used a pair of passes to give it to Socker, and she passed it to Pascarella, whose low, hard shot crashed into the net and set off a wild celebration among the Liverpool players for its biggest win of the season.
It was Pascarella who had scored Liverpool’s first goal just 2:05 into the game, only to have McLaughlin counter 10 minutes later, creating a 1-1 tie that held up until Liddell scored, setting up a second half where Cazenovia could not put things away, leaving the door open for a stunning Warrior finish.
While all this was going on, C-NS was finishing up a far less dramatic victory over ESM, whose up-and-down season had included a 7-0 defeat to Cazenovia on Sept. 12, but also a 2-1 upset over previously unbeaten Weedsport on Sept. 25, four days before the encounter with the Northstars.
Megan Caveny proved unstoppable, helping C-NS gain a 2-0 halftime lead, and it would double that margin in the second half, Caveny porducing two goals and adding an assist.
Marie Aloi made sure that Caveny didn’t work alone, putting together one goal and one assist. Nessa McKie also had a goal as C-NS took 16 shots, but didn’t let ESM get a single clean look on the other end of the ball.
