All of the regular-season work is done now for the Cazenovia field hockey team, with the tantalizing possibilities of a 10th straight Section III championship and a third state title still within range.
The Lakers finished with a 14-2 regular-season mark, its only defeats coming late in September on back-to-back days where it fell to Camden and Burnt Hills in the Blue Devils’ tournament. Since then, no one has come close to Cazenovia, and that’s included Class A foes like Baldwinsville and Liverpool.
Paying a visit to Cortland last Wednesday night, the Lakers, who won their initial meeting 9-0 at Burton Street on Sept. 3, continued its assault, hammering the Purple Tigers 8-1 by netting four goals in each half and playing better after Cortland managed to get on the board with Natalie Gier’s tally.
Zoe Shephard netted a three-goal hat trick, adding an assist. Morgan Giordano set up plays through her trio of assists as Bella Wheeler scored twice. Maria Stalder, Janie Kempf and Caroline Hudson earned one goal apiece.
Making one more appearance at Burton Street on Friday afternoon, Cazenovia took on a Homer side it also beat 9-0 early in the season, on Sept. 9. The rematch took the same course, with the Lakers trouncing the Trojans by that same 9-0 margin.
It was already 6-0 by halftime, but Cazenovia tacked on three more goals before the wet weather arrived, with Wheeler anchoring the attack thanks to her season-best total of four assists.
Four different Lakers – Shephard, Kempf, Giordano and Stalder – managed to score twice, with Gordiano adding an assist. Mikaylee Whalen was productive, too, earning one goal and one assist.
As expected, Cazenovia drew the top seed in the sectional Class C bracket. A first-round bye, and a six-team field, means that the Lakres gain a bye straight into the semifinals, which take place next Sunday at 5 p.m. at Liverpool High School Stadium against no. 4 seed Port Byron or no. 5 seed Holland Patent.
