Now it’s official – the Cazenovia field hockey team’s streak of Section III championships has gone to 11.
Through much of this long reign, the Lakers have required victories over Holland Patent to reach its title destination, and that was the case again on Sunday afternoon at Fayetteville-Manlius as Cazenovia’s attack broke out in a big way to defeat the Golden Knights 5-2.
According to head coach Lorraine Scheftic, claiming 11 straight sectional titles is “mind-boggling”, but also the byproduct of hard work by all of her championship teams.
They were supposed to play this sectional final last Thursday at Rome Free Academy Stadium, but bad weather caused a postponement, which, said Scheftic, proved beneficial because it gave the Lakers more time to practice on the artificial turf at Cazenovia College – and more time to adopt an aggressive attitude.
“We’re a really quiet team, but I wanted them to be intense from the get-go and try to hold on to that (intensity),” said Scheftic.
Against a Holland Patent team that rose from a no. 6 seed to knock off no. 3 seed Port Byron and no. 2 seed Canastota, that aggression was quite evident.
Swarming to the Golden Knights’ net, the Lakers needed just 9:28 of the first half to get on the board when Zoe Shephard moved the ball around several HP defenders and flicked it past goalie Joelle Friermuth. Less than 90 seconds later, it was 2-0, Mikaylee Whalen scoring off a feed from Caeli Carroll.
Perhaps surprised by that outburst, the Lakers started to relax a bit, and paid for it when, with 6:37 left in the half, Alexandra Livesey belted a hard shot from the right side past Shea Flannery, cutting the Golden Knights’ deficit to 2-1.
Then, with less than three minutes left in the half, Scheftic called a time-out. She said she didn’t wait until intermission because she wanted to halt HP’s momentum and make sure Cazenovia stayed out in front.
That was accomplished, and then the Lakers began the second half just like the first, netting an early goal at the 3:12 mark as Carroll again earned the assist on Janie Kempf’s conversion.
A wild 61-second sequence would put the game away. Shephard’s long run led to Kempf’s second goal with 6:18 left made it 4-1, and while the Golden Knights countered 16 seconds later with Anna Healey’s goal, Shephard returned to bury a shot with 5:17 to play.
This gave the junior midfielder three points on the night. Scheftic said that Shephard has transformed herself this season into a far more commanding field presence.
“Before, Zoe didn’t say much,” said Scheftic. ‘This year, she’s a real leader, and confident enough to handle it.”
What all the Lakers had to handle was a quick turnaround to Tuesday night’s Class C/D state qualifier at East Syracuse Minoa High School, where Cazenovia faces Weedsport. The Warriors beat Moravia 1-0 to win its fourth straight sectional title. The winner between Cazenovia and Weedsport goes to Saturday’s regional final at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium against the Section V/VI champion.
