Now the level of competition picked up for the Cazenovia field hockey team, as it went to a tournament in Camden sporting a 6-0 record – and emerged from it 6-2, having taken a pair of blemishes in close, hard-fought contests.
The Lakers, who had outscored its first six opponents by a combined 47-1, met the reigning Section III Class B champion Camden Blue Devils in what promised to be a tough, exciting test in the opening round.
And the game was just as advertised, back and forth with loads of scoring chances on both ends, but it was Alyssa Curtis making the difference for Camden as, by a 2-1 margin in overtime, it handed Cazenovia its first blemish of the season.
Right from the outset, the pace on a warm Camden turf was fast, and both sides converted in the first half, Curtis getting the Blue Devils on the board and Zoe Shephard doing the same for the Lakers with an unassisted goal.
Then it settled into a stalemate that lasted for the rest of regulation. From shots to penalty corners, everything the two sides tried did not result in a tie-breaking goal, Cazenovia stymied by Camden goalie Tiffany Viale, who made 15 saves.
For their part, Laker goalies Maria Groetz and Lizzy Shephard had 14 saves between them, keeping it 1-1 until the 10-minute, seven-on-seven OT period. There, with much more room to run, Curtis flashed open and put in the game-winner.
Forced into Saturday’s consolation game against Section II power Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (who lost to Vestal in the other opening-round game), the Lakers had the same thing happen – only the Spartans got the decisive goal in the second half, rather than OT, to beat Cazenovia by that familiar 2-1 margin. Vestal beat Camden 3-0 in the title game.
Before that, the For the fourth time this season, the Lakers managed to win a 9-0 game, doing so last Tuesday at Cato-Meridian in yet another display of how diverse and scary this attack could get.
Steadily, Cazenovia built up a 4-0 halftime edge and, as it had done against Cortland, Homer and East Syracuse Minoa, got close to double digits against the Blue Devils without reaching that milestone.
Still, seven different players netted goals, with Zoe Shephard and Mikaylee Whalen the only Lakers to find the net twice and Shephard adding an assist.
Morgan Giordano tacked on three assists to her lone tally as Maria Stalder managed one goal and one assist. Bella Wheeler, Janie Kempf and Bailey Forrett also found the net as Cato goalie Miranda Sacco made 21 saves to keep it from getting more lopsided.
Cazenovia goes from those losses to Cazenovia and Burnt Hills straight to Monday night’s visit to Bragman Stadium to face defending Section III Class A champion Cicero-North Syracuse, a prelude to Wednesday’s showdown with Weedsport at Burton Street.
