With their regular seasons ending in vastly different manners, boys soccer teams from Cazenovia and Chittenango had to collide last Thursday night at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
Not wanting any part of a bad effort against its Madison County neighbors, the Lakers steadily applied pressure and, while it didn’t always convert, still rolled its way to a 3-0 shutout of the Bears.
Patience was required for Cazenovia, since for much of the game it clung to a 1-0 lead earned by Burke Regan’s first-half goal. Anything else couldn’t get through a backloaded Chittenango defense, who made sure goalkeeper Justin Makowski only had to make six saves.
Not until the game’s final minutes did the Lakers feel safe, thanks to back-to-back scoring plays from Joe Spires and Eric Ketcham. As usual, Ryan Modzeleski was a central figure, earning a pair of assists as Geoff Christensen also got credit for an assist.
Cazenovia had played 24 hours earlier against Blessed Virgin Mary, not neglecting this assignment as it defeated the Saints 4-0. Those four goals came from four different players –Modzeleski, Spires, Ketcham and John Williams– with Williams joining Regan, Jack Aronson and Steve LaFever in earning assists.
Of greater importance to the Lakers was what it would do Saturday – namely, play at state Class B no. 8-ranked Westhill, a game that would provide quite a measure of where both teams stood going into the Section III Class B playoffs.
Both sides remembered how Cazenovia had handed Westhill its lone defeat of the season with a brilliant performance in a 4-1 decision Sept. 12 – especially the Warriors, who would completely turn around that result and claim its own 4-1 decision.
The Lakers (11-4-1) didn’t get on the board until Modzeleski converted an unassisted goal in the second half. By then, Westhill already had enough, having taken a 2-0 lead and building on it with goals from Charlie Bolesh, Jon Holl, Braeden Elmer and Brian Coman. In defeat, Cazenovia goalie Thomas Bragg made six saves
Two nights before facing Cazenovia, Chittenango went to Skaneateles and fell victim to an all-out attack from the opposition that resulted in a 7-0 defeat to that other group of Lakers.
Skaneateles wasted little time, building up a 3-0 edge by halftime and then more than doubling that margin after intermission. Justin Makowski, who finished with 10 saves, could not keep everything out as Jeff Palmer and Tristan Custer each scored twice to lead the Laker barrage.
Then, after playing Cazenovia, Chittenango would turn around Friday and face a Solvay side it lost to by a 3-2 margin early in September and had just clinched a Section III Class B playoff berth.
And the Bears would get even with the Bearcats, prevailing 4-2 thanks to goals by Seth Spurgeon, Keoni Saturnio, Andrew Larsson and Zach Jasmin. Even with that effort, though, Chittenango would close its season with a 4-12 record.
With that 11-4-1 mark, Cazenovia drew the no. 4 seed in a 14-team Section III Class B playoff bracket. On Wednesday night at 6:30, the Lakers host no. 13 seed Canastota, with a berth in the quarterfinals against Clinton or Solvay on the line.
