In every manner except the final result, the Westhill boys lacrosse team was a championship unit during 2015, denied only by a Cazenovia Lakers side that, on three separate occasions, broke the Warriors’ hearts by prevailing in overtime.
The success – and the heartache – reached its peak in Wednesday night’s Section III Class C final at the Carrier Dome, where Westhill, appearing in the title game for the first time, saw a six-goal lead disappear and Cazenovia rally to win, 9-8, on Cole Willard’s goal in the first minute of OT.
It was Cazenovia’s fourth sectional title in five years, but head coach Jim Longo said this one was the toughest to achieve because of how superb Westhill was.
Those first two games that the Warriors lost in OT made Cazenovia quite aware of what kind of challenge it faced the third time around. But even in its best-case scenario, Westhill coiuld not have imagined how well things would go in the early stages of the final.
Ryan Zimmerman’s goal less than two minutes into the game got it started. Casey Rogers added back-to-back tallies, and Richie Easterly converted in the last seconds of the first quarter. Then Easterly and Zimmerman struck again early in the second period, creating a 6-0 Lakers deficit.
Of course, Cazenovia was down five goals to Westhill in their last encounter earlier this month, so it wasn’t going to panic. Derek White’s goal 4:16 into the second period got the Lakers on the board. Then Alex Hunt and P.J. Brown converted, cutting the Warriors’ lead to 6-3 by halftime.
In the opening seconds of the third quarter, Westhill’s Andrew Hodgens left the game with a knee injury. To that point, Hodgens had won nine of 12 face-offs, and without him, the Warriors would have a difficult time maintaining that center-circle advantage.
As Westhill also struggled with Cazenovia’s switch to a zone defense, Willard’s back-to-back goals cut the deficit to one, 6-5, before Mark Purcell ended the Westhill drought and sent the game to an epochal fourth quarter.
All was quiet until Joe Rainone, picking up a Cazenovia turnover, charged from midfield and didn’t stop until he had flung it past Brenden Whalen with 6:32 left, which gave Westhill an 8-5 lead – but would also be the Warriors’ last goal of the night.
It was Willard who ignited the Lakers’ ultimate rally, forcing a turnover, charging in and scoring with 3:02 to play. Just 39 seconds later, Brown converted, making it 8-7, and when the Warriors committed a penalty and gave Cazenovia a man-up situation, Lewis sneaked in from the right side to put in the tying goal with 1:22 left.
In the last minute of regulation, the Lakers held for a shot, but turned it over. Taking its last time-out, Westhill gave the ball to Zimmerman, who charged up the middle, only to have T.J. Connellan strip him of the ball before Matt McAnaney picked it up and fired a shot wide as time expired.
The crucial overtime face-off saw Cazenovia’s Peter Burr pick it up. Instantly, Cazenovia called time-out, and then, when play resumed, the Lakers worked the ball around the Warriors’ net.
Willard said that he planned to clear out and have Brown take the shot. But when space opened up at his favorite spot, right at the point, Willard fired away and beat Westhill goalie Dan O’Connell for the game-winner just 56 seconds into the extra period.
