Midway through the second half of Tuesday night’s Section III Class B boys soccer championship game at Baldwinsville’s Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the opportunity for Cazenovia had arrived.
Outplayed for most of the evening, rarely getting a good goal-scoring opportunity, the no. 4 seed Lakers, in pursuit of a first-ever sectional title, had stayed within reach of no. 2 seed Westhill, only trailing 1-0.
Now, with 18:30 to play, a chance arrived. Thanks to a series of crisp passes, Burke Regan found himself with a slight opening in front of the Warriors’ net and redirected a cross from the right side with a well-placed header that, if successful, would tie the game.
But Westhill goalie Antonio Scrimale dove and grabbed it. Seconds later, Scrimale, ranging well out of his net, made another timely stop, and Cazenovia never got so close again, surrendering a pair of late goals as the Warriors, by a 3-0 margin, claimed its third sectional crown in five years.
True, the Lakers arrived at this game as a lower seed. But back on Sept. 12 at the Sean Googin Sports Complex, Cazenovia gave Westhill its lone defeat of the season, 4-1, and while the Warriors got even by that same margin on its home field a month later, at least the Lakers could draw on that good memory.
Also, Cazenovia had the confidence gained from upending top seed South Jefferson 1-0 in the sectional semifinals, while Westhill had toppled two-time defending champion Skaneateles 2-1 in the other semifinal.
Once the game kicked off, though, the Lakers quickly found itself in a defensive mode. For a while, the back line, led by Sean McNerney, Alex Pezzi, Hunter Sattler and Chris Becker, turned the Warriors away without too much difficulty. Only on occasion did the Lakers get its own chances.
Gradually, Westhill’s pressure built, and in the 26th minute Bernat Carbonell, drawing two Cazenovia players to him, passed to Jon Holl, who flicked a shot past Thomas Bragg. A few minutes later, Scrimale scooped up Ryan Modzeleski’s free kick, and it went to halftime with the Warriors in front 1-0.
Westhill had a great chance to double its edge in the 50th minute, but McNerney kicked it out of danger at the goal line with Bragg out of position. Less than 10 minutes later, Regan got his big opportunity that Scrimale coolly handled.
Instead of a tie game, Westhill was still in front, and with 8:19 left Carbonell made a long run, again drawing defenders to him before finding Holl open near the net. Holl took the pass and converted his second goal. Barely two minutes after making it 2-0, Carbonell scored himself, converting his 16th goal of the season.
Having gone through four playoff rounds, Cazenovia finished at 14-5-1, Eight seniors will depart, including Regan, Becker, Hunter Sattler, Will Shephard and John Williams, but having the likes of Modzeleski, Bragg, McNerney and Joe Spires back in 2017 should mean another push for that long-elusive sectional championship.
