For a third time in the 2015 season, the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team tried to get the best of Cazenovia, this time with an opportunity to end the reign of those other Lakers as Section III Class C champions.
But just like those other two meetings, Cazenovia got the best of the Laker duel, prevailing 11-6 in Saturday night’s sectional Class C semifinal at East Syracuse Minoa Stadium.
This game fell somewhere in between the action of the two previous Laker clashes this spring. Cazenovia needed two goals in the last seconds of regulation to upend Skaneateles 8-6 on April 2 at Hyatt Stadium, but won by a more convincing 12-5 margin four weeks later at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
Now, coming off easy early-round playoff wins over Clinton (21-1) and Marcellus (15-2), top-seeded Cazenovia had to earn a third victory against a Skaneateles side that, as the no. 5 seed, topped Cortland 15-8 in the opening round and needed two overtimes to get past no. 4 seed South Jefferson 9-8 in the quarterfinals.
Nervous starts on both sides created a 0-0 deadlock until midway through the first quarter, when Cazenovia’s Jake Lewis and Cole Willard converted on goals 27 seconds apart.
Late in the period, Derek White converted, and Willard, with near-perfect timing, flung in a goal less than a second before the horn sounded to make it 4-0, a cushion Cazenovia would spend the rest of the game trying to protect.
by Cazenovia’s trademark zone defense in the early going, Skaneateles broke out in the second quarter as Sam Duggan scored twice and Owen Kuhns found the net, too.
With its lead cut to one, 4-3, Cazenovia regrouped after a time-out and, seconds later, Jake Stowell found the net, the last goal for either side in the half. Trailing 5-3 at the break, Skaneateles could only watch as Cazenovia used two different spurts to put the game away.
Lewis and Alex Hunt both converted within the span of a minute early in the third quarter. When White scored a few minutes later to make it 8-3, Skaneateles called a time-out, trying to prevent a runaway. And it did so, using goals from Duggan and Cullen McGlynn to cut the margin to 8-5.
It stayed that way deep into the third quarter, Cazenovia possessing the ball for long stretches, but waiting for Skaneateles to get more aggressive and force turnovers.
Then, with 4:16 left, P.J. Brown ripped in a shot from the point, and within the next 90 seconds Lewis added his third goal and Hunt converted, too, doubling the margin and putting things out of reach, despite a late goal from Major.
Skaneateles, who has not won a sectional title since 2010, finished its season with a 12-7 record, and the departing seniors include McGlynn, Brett Singler and Alex Dunn, but a large cast of returning players should make the Lakers a top contender again next spring.
