One home defeat in a high-profile game was enough for the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team to take.
Staring at that same fate in Tuesday night’s tense battle with Baldwinsville, the state Class C no.4-ranked Lakers got a timely outburst – two goals 26 seconds apart late in the fourth quarter – that put them in front for good and led to a 10-8 victory over the Bees.
Three days earlier, Cazenovia had lost, 16-11, to state Class A no. 1-ranked Victor. Now B’ville, who at 10-2 sported Section III’s best Class A record, arrived with a potent attack and an exciting presence between the pipes in the form of goalie Riley Smith.
Smith ruled the first quarter, his series of stops keeping B’ville close as the Lakers, despite owning most of the possession, got a single goal, from Thomas Bragg.
Indeed, the Bees frustrated Cazenovia not just with Smith’s work, but with face-offs controlled in the early stages by Ryan Ingerson and a defense that, for much of the first half, kept the Lakers’ top scorer, Cole Willard, quiet.
Willard had just one goal in the first half, and B’ville overcame a 2-0 deficit by seeing Charlie Bertrand score twice in the second period and Ryan Gebhardt also find the net.
Tied 3-3 at the break, Cazenovia tried to assert control in the third quarter, twice getting the lead, but twice surrendering it to B’ville. Then back-to-back goals by Willard and Derek White, plus White’s conversion with nine seconds left in the period, gave the Lakers its largest lead at 8-5 with one quarter left.
Still, B’ville would fight back. Within a three-minute span, Connor Smith scored twice, and Gebhardt, assisted by Pete Fiorini, also converted, again pulling the Bees even at 8-8 with more than seven minutes to play.
Just at the right time, though, T.J. Connellan, Adam Race and the rest of Cazenovia’s defenders made crucial stops. B’ville never held the lead all night.
With 3:38 left, Willard, following his own shot off the post, beat Riley Smith for the go-ahead goal. Brice Basic then won the ensuing face-off, reflecting a late-game trend where the Lakers eventually got 10 of the 18 draws despite Ingerson’s early success.
The ball was passed around until, with 3:12 to play, Bragg converted off a feed from Lewis. Trying to make one more comeback, B’ville instead saw Cazenovia goalie Brenden Whalen make two big point-blank saves on shots by Bertrand and Gebhardt, preserving one of the Lakers’ most exciting wins of the season.
On Senior Night Thursday, Cazenovia hosted St. Francis (Buffalo) and, finally getting a breather, rolled to a 17-3 victory. Many players got a chance to shine, including Will Shepard, who led the attack with four goals.
Willard joined Alex Nowak and Noah Nash as they each got two goals and one assist. Cooper Coleman and Ben Falge both had one goal and two assists as Jake Stowell and Anthony Vecchiarelli had matching totals of one goal and one assist. Bragg and White got single goals.
