For the Cazenovia girls soccer team, the sting of a Sept. 22 home defeat to Skaneateles could linger if things weren’t fixed right away.
At least the schedule offered a quick recovery, since two days later the Lakers faced Camden at the Sean Googin Sports Complex and went right back into the win column as Saige Ackermann again proved unstoppable to a 5-1 victory over the Blue Devils.
Before halftime, Ackermann already had a natural hat trick, two of them unassisted goals and the other assisted by Megan Henderson. Then Cazenovia, up 3-1 at halftime, doubled that margin when Ackermann converted twice more, with Brenna Hughes assisting on one of the tallies.
Overall, the Lakers took three times as many shots (21) as the Blue Devils (seven), whose lone goal came from Allison Koch in the first half. Otherwise, Hannah Matteson was strong in the net, finishing with six saves.
However, things turned rough again when the Lakers ventured on the road last Tuesday night to take on state Class B no. 2-ranked Westhill, who ran all over Cazenovia’s defenses in the course of prevailing by a 5-0 margin.
Led by Erin McMullen, Westhill gave the Lakers a 2-0 halftime deficit and then kept adding to it, McMullen notching a three-goal hat trick as Jayanna Monds helped out with a goal and two assists. Megan O’Reilly had the other goal as Hannah Dorfman, Katelyn Karleski and Erica Gangemi had one assist apiece.
Back home on Thursday night, Cazenovia faced the combined Syracuse City team, the first of two consecutive games against them. The Lakers won, 4-1, as Ackermann again unloaded, earning three goals for another hat trick as Jamie Joseph picked up the other goal, Maddy Gavitt earning the assist.
Chittenango returned to the win column last Tuesday night with a 2-0 victory over the Syracuse City team, achieved by notching a pair of second-half goals after neither team found the board in the first half.
Only the work of Syracuse goalie Angelina Belair, who made 11 saves, kept things close. Tiffany Scofield and Nicole Myers earned the Bears’ goals, with Morgan Shoemaker, Ally Shoemaker and Sarah Martin credited for assists.
Two nights later, Chittenango hosted Skaneateles, and took a 2-1 overtime defeat to that other group of Lakers.
Scofield’s goal helped create a 1-1 halftime tie, and it stayed that way until the OT period, when Skaneateles found the net again and held on from there. To overcome 11 saves from Ava Dardaris, the Lakers needed Grace Buchholz and Tess Peterson to score goals, each of them assisted by Maddie Peterson.
With that loss, Chittenango fell to 6-5 on the season as it headed toward its own confrontation with Westhill on Thursday, three days after taking on CBA.
