All season long, the Cazenovia and Skaneateles boys soccer teams have been inked up together, and not just because they share the same nickname.
From the OHSL Liberty division standings to the state Class B rankings to the Section III playoff bracket, wherever one Lakers team went, the other closely followed.
Now, though, they would have to separate, because one of them – Cazenovia or Skaneateles – would walk away from next Tuesday night’s clash at Liverpool High School Stadium with the sectional Class B championship.
Cazenovia, the top seed, is still in search of its first-ever sectional championship, and did not beat Skaneateles in either of their regular-season encounters, falling 2-0 at home on Sept. 5 and then playing to a 0-0 draw Oct. 13 at Hyatt Stadium.
Yet it arrives at this title game with a lot of confidence, having not allowed a goal in either of its sectional games, including Wednesday night’s 3-0 shutout over no. 4 seed General Brown in the Class B semifinals at Fulton.
Fresh off blanking South Jefferson 5-0 in the quarterfinals on Oct. 24 at Morrisville State College, the Lakers met another North Country foe in General Brown, who had won its first-ever Frontier League ‘B’ division regular-season title and got past Holland Patent 3-1 in its quarterfinal in Dexter.
It didn’t take long, though, for Cazenovia, no. 7 in the last state Class B poll (two spots ahead of Skaneateles at no. 9), to start taming the Lions.
Just before the game hit the 10-minute mark, Cole Willard fired home the game’s first goal. Continuing to apply pressure, the Lakers forced a free kick in the 19th minute, and Tyler Modlezeski curved it into the net, eluding GB goalie Trevor Snow.
Not content with that, Tyler Modzeleski returned and, in the 28th minute, hit on his second goal, assisted by his brother, Ryan, creating a three-goal margin long before the halftime break.
From there, the Lions’ defense fared better, and Snow finished with five saves. But GB’s attack got swallowed up by a disciplined Cazenovia defense that, led by Evan Cornell, Ryan Henderson, Derek White and Burke Regan, offered terrific protection to goalie Garrett Clabeaux.
Not long after that, Cazenovia found out that Skaneateles, the no. 2 seed, had beaten no. 3 seed Clinton 1-0 in overtime on Chittenango’s turf thanks to Jack Bailey’s golden goal just 29 seconds into the extra period.
So it sets up the most important Laker clash of all. Two years ago, Cazenovia got this far and lost the title game to Westhill. Now, against Skaneateles, a bit of history awaits.
