When the Section III Class C playoff pairings were announced, the Cazenovia girls lacrosse team had to feel like it had a chance to make a deep run – and may have felt that even more after the way the tournament started.
The Lakers had the no. 6 seed, and would host no. 11 seed Mexico in Saturday’s opening round at the Sean Googin Sports Complex. Putting together timely goals with a tremendous defensive effort, especially in the first half, Cazenovia knocked out the Tigers by a 12-3 margin.
Given the 10 a.m. start time, perhaps it was understandable that both teams started slowly, and Mexico had chances to convert, but the Lakers’ defense, anchored by goalie Sophie Goris (who finished with six saves), set the tone with some key stops.
And once Grace Milmoe hit on back-to-back goals 52 seconds apart, Cazenovia began to take over, Milmoe adding a third goal by the midway point of the first half which, combined with Keara Dwyer’s tally, made it 4-0.
Not content with that, the Lakers kept winning draws and kept converting, with goals from Paige Nardella, Taylor Eldred and Chloe Willard late in the half. By the time they reached the break, Cazenovia enjoyed a 7-0 margin.
Good as the attack was, the Lakers were even better on the defensive side, blanking Mexico until Emma Andrews’ goal 3:17 into the second half, by which point Cazenovia was out of reach.
Eldred, Nardella, Willard, Keely Race and Julia Wilson each added goals in the second half, and Audrey Burbidge dished out three assists, while Dwyer had two assists.
Cazenovia advanced to Tuesday’s Class C quarterfinal at no. 3 seed General Brown, who had a first-round bye. The winner gets South Jefferson or LaFayette in Thursday’s semifinal at CBA’s Alibrandi Stadium, with the final next Tuesday at the Carrier Dome.
Prior to that, weather did not do Cazenovia much favors, forcing them to face reigning state Class C champion Skaneateles in last Wednesday’s regular-season finale a day after it had finished off a 13-7 victory over Westhill.
And while Skaneateles was also playing on back-to-back days, it still handled Cazenovia 16-7, largely doing the damage during a first half where it bolted out to a 9-2 lead to make sure that it won this second Laker duel by nearly the same score as the 15-7 decision back on April 21.
Cazenovia did play on close to even terms in the second half, seeing Chloe Willard score three times as Audrey Burbidge, Megan Henderson, Paige Nardella and Grace Milmoe earn one goal apiece. Keeley Race added an assist as Kyla Sears again paced Skaneateles with six goals and one assist.
That game with Westhill had begun last Monday. Determined to make Senior Night a successful one, Cazenovia dominated the first half on both ends, racing to a 5-1 lead, and had extended the margin to 6-1 early in the second half when lightning forced a postponement.
A day later, the game resumed, and the Warriors, led by Shelby Stack (three goals) and Haileigh Farrell (two goals, one assist), made a furious comeback attempt.
Every time, though, the Lakers met Westhill’s challenge, especially Burbidge, who scored four times and added two assists, and Goris, who stopped 14 of the 21 shots she faced over the two days.
Dwyer, with three goals and one assist, wasn’t far behind, while Willard and Milmoe had two goals apiece. Single goals went to Olivia McEntee and Megan Henderson, with Nardella adding an assist.
