Plenty of messages and warning signs were out there for the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team going into Saturday’s Class C regional final against Salmon River at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
Each of the three previous times the Lakers had gone into the state tournament, it had to beat the Section X champion Shamrocks to advance further, and had done so – but those games were all close, tense battles.
Adding to the concern was the amount of emotion and energy spent by Cazenovia in the Section III Class C final three nights earlier, when it rallied from a six-goal deficit to beat Westhill in overtime.
But all of those worries were quickly forgotten. In this particular regional final, Cazenovia took charge early against Salmon River and never let up until it had pulled far away and registered a 17-6 victory over the Shamrocks.
Remembering the 6-0 deficit it faced against Westhill, the Lakers took just 55 seconds to grab the lead on Alex Hunt’s goal, and then, after a pair of shots went off posts, Jake Lewis hit on back-to-back tallies and Cole Willard scored, too, after Salmon River got on the board with Ross Oakes’ goal.
The early stages of the second quarter turned a close battle into a rout. Salmon River the face-off and Oakes netted his second goal just seven seconds into the period, and seconds later the Lakers drew a penalty, putting the Shamrocks a man up.
With a chance to pull within one, Salmon River instead turned it over, Cazenovia went on a fast break and Hunt, fed by Lewis, put in a short-handed goal, igniting a 4-0 run where Lewis, Hunt and P.J. Brown all put in goals.
Ahead 9-3 at halftime, Cazenovia would own the third quarter, winning every face-off and out-scoring the Shamrocks 6-0 to set up a running clock.
Hunt ran his total to five goals and one assist, and Lewis finished with four goals and three assists, while Brown scored three times. Willard had two goals and two assists as Derek White contributed three assists. Jake Stowell and Anthony Vecchiarelli had the other goals, with Ben Falge adding an assist.
Cazenovia now returns to St. John Fisher College in suburban Rochester, the same venue where it won the state Class C championship in 2013, for Wednesday’s state semifinal against another familiar opponent – Section V champion Penn Yan.
Much like Salmon River, the Mustangs have faced Cazenovia in the 2011, 2013 and 2014 state tournaments. Penn Yan now gets a fourth chance to upend the Lakers, with a berth in next Saturday’s state final at Vestal High School on the line.
