It’s getting to a point for the Cazenovia field hockey team where it’s not a question of whether or not it ends a season with a Section III championship – just what are the details that lead to the title.
For the 2014 edition, it involved facing a Holland Patent team that nearly ended the Lakers’ title run a season ago, and making absolutely sure that such theatrics were not required again.
In Wednesday night’s sectional Class C final at East Syracuse-Minoa’s Spartan Stadium, Cazenovia jumped all over the Golden Knights, assuming full command with a flurry of goals and not letting up until it had prevailed by an 8-0 margin for a ninth consecutive sectional title.
Anyone still with the Lakers from 2013 remembered how that sectional final with HP turned into a tense affair that went beyond regulation and overtime before Cazenovia, in penalty strokes, made it out and eventually reached the state title game.
Twelve months later, having dispatched Little Falls 6-0 in the semifinals on this same ESM turf, the Lakers attacked from the opening whistle and, less than 90 seconds into the game, were up 1-0 thanks to Ashley Kent’s goal, assisted by Sarah Willard.
Kent wasn’t done. Three minutes later, with McLaughlin providing the timely pass, Kent netted her second goal, and when McLaughlin’s hard shot from a penalty corner crashed into the cage, it was 3-0, and the game was just eight minutes old.
Cazenovia’s continual attacks provided no respite for the Golden Knights. Midway through the first half, McLaughlin converted her second goal, and as the half wound down, Willard made it 5-0 off a feed from Zoe Shephard.
To complete the Lakers’ first-half masterpiece, Shephard earned her second assist on Gabby Yates’ goal, and the 6-0 margin allowed Cazenovia fans to relax for the rest of the evening.
Still, the Lakers added to the lead in a two-minute stretch of the second half where Kent completed her hat trick with a third goal and Willard, fed by McLaughlin, converted, too.
Immediately, attention would turn to the Class C-D final on Saturday at noon at Rome Free Academy Stadium, where the Lakers will reunite with Weedsport to see who advances to the state tournament.
A come-from-behind, 3-2 victory over Morrisville-Eaton/Hamilton gave the Warriors its first sectional title in 19 years. And since Weedsport played Cazenovia to a 1-1 tie on Sept. 22, it could provide the challenge the Lakers didn’t have to worry about against Holland Patent.
