In the most crowded stretch of its schedule, the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team would play eight games in 12 days, exhausting itself against a wide variety of strong opponents, and capped by this Friday’s rematch with the Westhill team it beat in triple overtime on April 13.
The key early game in this stretch was last Tuesday’s trip to Alibrandi Stadium to face Christian Brothers Academy, which came just a day after the Lakers beat LaFayette 13-6 at Jameville-DeWitt’s field. But the Lakers weren’t drained one bit, getting off to a near-perfect start and riding that momentum to an 11-7 victory over the Brothers.
Throughout the first quarter, and deep into the second period, Cazenovia’s defense, led by Eli Mitchell, Kevin Frega, Jake Shaffner and long-stick midfielder T.J. Connellan, confused and bothered the potent CBA attack, keeping them off the board.
Meanwhile, the Lakers didn’t dominate the time of possession, but still bolted out to a 6-0 lead, getting those six goals from six different players – Derek White, Jake Stowell, P.J. Brown, Cole Willard, Jake Lewis and Adam Hunt, in that order.
Cooling off late in the half, Cazenovia saw CBA close the gap to 6-2 at the break, and then eat away at the Lakers’ margin throughout the second half, helped by two instances where the Brothers scored twice in a span of 11 seconds or less.
Yet every time the game got a bit suspenseful, the Lakers would answer with a timely goal. Willard hit the last of them, with 4:58 to play, after CBA had closed the gap to 10-7, and Cazenovia’s defense blanked the Brothers the rest of the way.
When Cazenovia took on LaFayette, it was close for a half. Even in a down year, LaFayette is a dangerous foe, and it played on even terms with Cazenovia through most of the first half before the Lakers grabbed an 8-6 lead that it took to the break.
During the pivotal third period, Cazenovia outscored the Lancers 4-0, and cruised from there, seeing Cole Willard have his best showing of the season with five goals and one assist. Jake Lewis had three goals and three assists, with Alex Hunt getting four goals and one assist. P.J. Brown had a goal and three assists and Derek White two assists.
On Thursday night, Cazenovia made another road trip, this one to Marcellus, and this time around, when the Lakers surged early, the Mustangs didn’t answer, leading to a 14-4 victory.
All through the first half, Cazneovia, especially Brown and Stowell, gave the Mustangs’ defense problems, which produced a 9-2 margin, but unlike with CBA, Marcellus never got a chance to climb back in it thanks to a Lakers defense that sniffed out any possible run.
Brown outscored Marcellus by himself with five goals, plus two assists, with Stowell matching the Mustangs thanks to four goals and one assist. Hunt found the net twice as Willard, Lewis, Peter Burr and Ben Falge had one goal apiece.
The bad weather continued to affect the Sean Googin Sports Complex enough to send Cazenovia’s scheduled home game with Jordan-Elbrige on Saturday to the Eagles’ home field, and move the second game between these sides to Fenner on the night of May 13.
Despite the latest shuffle, the Lakers still handled J-E 13-6, taking control by again pitching a first-quarter shutout. By halftime, the margin was 6-2, and Cazenovia was content to trade goals until it got away with a closing 4-0 run.
Hunt set the pace, scoring four times. Otherwise, the production was spread around, Lewis and Stowell each getting two goals and one assist, with Brown adding a goal and two assists. White and Burr both had one goal and one assist, and even Connellan struck for a rare goal, joining Willard with single tallies.
And all of this sets up an even bigger week ahead, starting with Monday’s shot at knocking off unbeaten, state Class A no. 3-ranked West Genesee, continuing with a rematch against Skaneateles on Wednesday (whom it beat 8-6 on April 2) and then the reunion with Westhill.
