Finally, each of Cazenovia’s lacrosse teams got the opportunity to play on their true home field at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
For the girls Lakers, the return home was fortuitous, coming after a week where defeats to Skaneateles and Marcellus had caused a small tumble to no. 14 in the latest state Class C rankings.
And it wasn’t easy for Cazenovia when it had its long-awaited home date against Bishop Ludden-Bishop Grimes last Tuesday night, though the Lakers did prevail by a 9-6 margin.
Never able to get the fast pace it wanted, Cazenovia still did enough, especially on the defensive side, to register a 4-2 halftime lead, and it never let Ludden-Grimes put together any sort of sustained run.
Meanwhile, Olivia McEntee and Grace Milmoe both recorded three-goal hat tricks, getting support from Audrey Burbidge and Keara Dwyer, who each had one goal and one assist. Paige Nardella added a single goal as Sophie Goris made seven saves. Jennifer Vazquez led Ludden-Grimes with a three-goal hat trick of her own, but Teresa Shattuck was held to two goals.
Looking for back-to-back wins, Cazenovia visited LaFayette on Thursday night, and saw a complete reversal from their first encounter as the Lakers lost, 18-15, to the Lancers.
Back on April 7, these same two teams had met, and Cazenovia had won big, 20-10. Barely three weeks later, the Lakers were still potent, but its defense had trouble stopping anything LaFayette, just 3-5 going into the game, threw at them.
It got more active as the contest went on, Cazenovia trailing 7-5 at halftime and then doing plenty in the second half to try and catch up. Dwyer poured in six goals, with Burbidge, Milmoe and Chloe Willard each scoring twice and Burbidge adding three assists. McEntee had a goal and two assists, while Nardella and Taylor Eldred also found the net.
And it still wasn’t enough because LaFayette’s Cassidy Doster was piling up eight assists to go with her pair of goals and feeding it to, among others, Kaitlin Rurka, who had five goals and two assists, and Jade Wililams and Mya DeJoseph, who had three goals apiece. Claire Frier made 12 saves, three more than Goris.
A non-league game at Fayetteville-Manlius followed on Saturday afternoon, and it proved a close, low-scoring affair that the Lakers could not quite conquer, falling to the Hornets 7-6.
F-M inched in front, 4-3, by halftime, and held on to that margin, Cazenovia keeping it close thanks to Goris and her 13 saves. Burbidge and Nardella each scored twice, with McEntee and Eldred earning the other goals. Dwyer and Megan Henderson contributed assists as the Hornets’ Mary Trop led both sides with three goals.
Back at the .500 mark again (6-6), Cazenovia hosts Tully Monday and stays home to take on Jordan-Elbridge Wednesday night.
