Just as the Cazenovia boys soccer team made an appearance in the state Class B rankings at the no. 19 spot, it proved that it belonged in that elite group – during a defeat.
Last Tuesday night at Hyatt Stadium, Cazenovia challenged two-time defending Section III champion Skaneateles. Much like its 4-1 home win over Westhill the week before, this was going to reveal plenty about Cazenovia’s character and heart.
The fact that it would go to two overtimes before it got resolved 1-0 in favor of the host Lakers certainly disappointed the visitors – but at the same time, it left Cazenovia believing that it could stay right with the best in the area.
Other than the game’s opening minutes, Cazenovia spent large portions of this game in its own end, playing lots of defense. Skaneateles, no. 6 in the state Class B rankings, probed everywhere, but got few close looks, at least in the first half, so it stayed 0-0.
And the second half was scoreless, too, with Cazenovia continuing to defend with everyone on the roster, yet still surrendering shots that goalie Thomas Bragg would have to stop on his way to 10 saves for the afternoon.
So it was scoreless heading into the pair of 10-minute overtime periods. Near the end of the first extra period, Skaneateles just missed out on the game-winner, only to see Bragg stop Reggie Buell’s header.
As the second OT wore on, Skaneateles kept earning set pieces, and finally got the game-winner when a corner kick bounced around the crease until Matt Neumann, situated at right post, poked a rebound into the net before Bragg could find it.
Another Cazenovia road trip followed, to Marcellus on Thursday night, and again the Lakers couldn’t pull out a victory, though it did manage a 1-1 draw with the Mustangs.
This required a comeback, too, since Cazenovia was shut out in the first half and fell behind, 1-0, on Carter Austin’s unassisted goal. To pull even, the Lakers required Justin Gagnon to convert in the second half off a feed from Hunter Sattler.
Again, Cazenovia went into overtime, but though it took more shots, it couldn’t get anything more past Marcellus goalie Sam Haydue, who had seven saves.
This put the Lakers at 5-2-1 midway through the regular season, with three games set for this week against Solvay, Phoenix and Clinton, the last two of them at home against the Firebirds on Thursday at 6:30 and the Warriors on Saturday at 4:30.
