Nearly two months ago, the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team’s latest championship journey started at Tully, a tense and nervous affair that the Lakers pulled out. 7-4, before it moved on to bigger and more noted competition.
Yet when the top-seeded, state Class C no. 3-ranked Lakers got started in the Section III Class C playoffs, it was the no. 8 seed Black Knights waiting for them in Tuesday night’s quarterfinal, and again it got nervous before Cazenovia’s excellence led to a 14-7 victory.
Tully showed no fear of the Lakers, grabbing a 3-2 edge by the end of the first quarter. And it wasn’t until late in the second period that Cazenovia grabbed the lead for good, Jake Lewis scoring to make it 6-4 going into halftime.
Amid a tough, bruising battle, T.J. Connellan, Adam Race and the rest of Cazenovia’s defenders made its big stand in the third quarter, keeping the Black Knights off the board, so even though the Lakers only scored twice, it suddenly had a larger margin, and proceeded to nearly double its total in the final period.
Cole Willard, named an All-American earlier in the week, scored four times, adding a pair of assists. Derek White and Alex Nowak both had three goals and one assist, while Jake Stowell had four assists to go with his lone tally. Thomas Bragg notched a pair of goals and Lewis finished with one goal and one assist.
Brenden Whalen did a sensational job in the net, stopping 14 of the 21 shots he faced. Only Jon Lippert, with three goals and one assist, and T.J. Gibbons, who scored twice, consistently solved Whalen.
In Thursday’s Class C semifinal at East Syracuse Minoa Stadium, Cazenovia meets no. 4 seed Skaneateles, who topped CBA 13-8 in its sectional quarterfinal. The winner goes to the Carrier Dome Saturday night to face Homer or LaFayette in the championship game.
