For its entire history, a Section III championship has eluded the Cazenovia boys soccer team, but with plenty of grit and determination, the Lakers have given itself a second chance in three years to alter that narrative.
Up against top-seeded, state no. 9-ranked South Jefferson in Wednesday night’s sectional Class B semifinal at Chittenango High School, Cazenovia, the no. 4 seed, got an early goal from Burke Regan and then leaned on its defense to make that slim margin hold up in a 1-0 victory over the Spartans.
While it was true that the Lakers were the lower seed, it had also played a tougher schedule than South Jefferson had in the Frontier League. Also, it gained an enormous edge when the semifinal was placed at Chittenango, on the same turf where Cazenovia had knocked out Clinton in the Oct. 22 sectional quarterfinal.
Right from the outset, the Lakers defense, who already had two playoff shutouts to its credit, began clamping down on the Spartans. Between Regan, Sean McNerney, Will Shephard and Tim Burr, Cazenovia’s back line rarely let South Jefferson get close to pressuring goalkeeper Thomas Bragg.
Meanwhile, the Lakers’ attack forced South Jefferson into yielding early corner kicks. Twice, that didn’t work out, but in the 16th minute, Ryan Modzeleski sent another cross to the middle, and Regan, moving up from his back-line position, headed it past Spartans goalie Connor Lalone.
That one-goal margin nearly doubled in the 29th minute when South Jefferson committed a foul inside the 18-yard box. Regan took the penalty kick, but hit it wide, Regan hoping that this mistake would not end up costing the Lakers.
With a complete team effort, Cazenovia made sure South Jefferson didn’t get even, proving especially effective in the last 15 minutes after McNerney made a timely header to deny one Spartans chance and Bragg grabbed Will Lowe’s well-struck shot for his third save of the night.
So now the Lakers are in the sectional final, just like in 2014, when it lost 2-0 to Skaneateles. Here, though, the Lakers encounter no. 2 seed Westhill in next Tuesday’s title game at Baldwinsville’s Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium after the Warriors beat Skaneateles, the two-time defending champions, 2-1 in the other semifinal at Jamesville-DeWitt.
Holding the no. 8 spot in the state Class B rankings, Westhill only lost once this season – to Cazenovia, in a 4-1 decision Sept. 12 at the Sean Googin Sports Complex. But the Warriors got even with its own 4-1 victory over the Lakers a month later, and now a third encounter is in store with a championship on the line.
