For a full week, the Cazenovia field hockey did whatever it could to rest, heal and work on what was wrong with its game, and there was plenty to consider.
A long swing of road games that included a loss to Class B power Burnt Hills and culminated Sept. 29 with a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool, with two goals scored by the Warriors in the final three minutes, had left the Lakers both tired – and angry.
So when play resumed last Monday night, at Cortland, with Sarah Willard back in the lineup after missing the Liverpool game due to illness, Cazenovia cared little for niceties and just unleashed its full-strength attack once more, recording another 10-0 victory over the Purple Tigers.
These same Lakers had beaten Cortland by that same 10-0 margin at Burton Street on Sept. 5. A month later, it didn’t take long for the onslaught to start again.
Ashley Kent’s goals had Cazenovia on the board less than two minutes into the game. But when Willard scored midway through the half, the real rush got underway.
And Gabby Yates led that charge, getting her first varsity hat trick by netting all three of her goals late in the half. That, plus goals from Meredith Shephard and Zoe Shephard, helped the Lakers zoom to a 7-0 hafltime edge.
Though it didn’t need anything more, Cazenovia still pushed it to double digits in the second half, Kent getting a second goal and Maria Stalder netting another, while assisting on Sarah Liddell’s tally.
Back at Burton Street on Thursday afternoon, the Lakers would easily handle Homer (another team it beat 10-0 early in the season), this time prevailing by a 7-0 margin.
Prior to the game, Cazenovia honored its eight graduating seniors – Willard, Kent, Liddell, Yates, Rachel McLaughlin, Kimber Nourse, Meredith Shephard and Josie Chiarello, whose collective talents and accomplishments rival any in the program’s rich recent history.
None of the ceremonies affected the play one bit. McLaughlin, roaring back to top form, scored twice early in the first half, and Willard found the net, too, before Chiarello notched a goal that made it 4-0 going into halftime.
Taking 32 shots overall, Cazenovia kept firing away in the second half, McLaughlin tacking on a third goal off Willard’s second assist before Kent hit on back-to-back scoring plays late in the game.
Then Cazenovia would get a bigger challenge Friday at Fayetteville-Manlius, a team that at least stayed within range during their Aug. 30 meeting before the Lakers, scoring all of its goals in the second half, prevailed 3-0.
Now, on that same F-M turf, the Lakers didn’t wait until the second half to go in front, and didn’t get a shutout, but again played well in the late going to beat the Hornets 3-1.
McLaughlin put Cazenovia up 1-0 in the early going, her goal assisted by Willard, only to have F-M counter with Nancy Bansbach taking a pass from Reilly Baker and putting one past Nourse, tying it at 1-1, where it stood at halftime.
Maintaining the pressure (Cazenovia (took 20 shots to the Hornets’ five), McLaughlin tore through the Hornets’ defenses in the second half, earning a second goal and assisting on Kent’s tally. Willard also was credited with an assist.
Just one more regular-season game remains for the Lakers, as it visits defending Section III Class B champion East Syracuse-Minoa on Saturday afternoon, a day before the Section III Class C playoff pairings are announced.
Cazenovia beat the Spartans 7-0 on Sept. 12 at Burton Street, but ESM has since made vast improvements, including a 2-1 win over Weedsport on Sept. 25 just two days after the Lakers’ 1-1 tie with the Warriors.
