True, the ending to the regular season was not what the Cazenovia girls soccer team had in mind – far from it. But if things break right in the Section III Class B playoffs, the Lakers could get the best possible chance to atone and finish on top.
Still carrying with it the memory of that controversial overtime defeat to state no. 2-ranked Westhill on Oct. 18, Cazenovia returned five days later and, with the no. 4 seed in the sectional tournament, ousted no. 5 seed Skaneateles 3-1 in the Class B quarterfinal at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
Context mattered a lot with this game. The first two Laker duels, on Sept. 8 (a 3-2 Cazenovia win at Hyatt Stadium) and Oct. 2 (a 3-1 victory in the rematch at Fenner) had given Cazenovia more confidence, but gave those other Lakers reason to think it could produce a different outcome.
Yet it could not have planned the way Cazenovia had ended the regular season, that game at Westhill where Jayanna Monds had scored with 10 seconds left in the second OT to steal a 3-2 win.
Convinced that Monds’ scoring play was offsides and should not have counted, Cazenovia steamed for five days before Skaneateles arrived, and then vented on the field, much to the visitors’ dismay.
Right away, Cazenovia attacked hard, and Skaneateles goalie Sophie Kush had to make a couple of point-blank stops. But the pressure never let up, even when, in the 12th minute, Audrey Burbidge took a pass from Casey Crawford and put home the game’s first goal.
Instead of an answer, Skaneateles kept running into more waves of forward-moving Cazenovia attackers, and in the 32nd minute the lead grew to 2-0, Burbidge drawing in the defenders before finding a wide-open Olivia McEntee, who converted.
Five minutes later, it was a three-goal margin as Cazenovia’s Kate Sullivan found the net. Those two goals, from unlikely sources late in the half, broke a close game open.
All through the second half, Skaneateles tried to battle back. In the 64th minute, it broke up the shutout thanks to Catie Woodruff’s goal, but all other attempts were swallowed up by an effective Cazenovia defense.
Now, with Laker superiority attained, Cazenovia, no. 8 in the state Class B rankings, looks to upend top seed Lowville in next week’s Class B semifinals.
Despite a 16-0-1 mark and a 2-0 win over South Jefferson in its sectional quarterfinal, the Red Raiders, no. 19 in the state Class B poll, didn’t face as much high-level competition as the Lakers did. Thus, Cazenovia expects to get through this game – and possibly get one more shot at Westhill in the sectional finals, should it get past Clinton in the other semifinal.
