Regardless of the struggles it went through during the regular season, the Cazenovia ice hockey team would get an opportunity at taking out the defending champions from Skaneateles in last Friday’s opening round of the Section III Division II playoffs at Allyn Arena.
But those dreams of a season-defining shocker were quickly replaced by the cold reality of Skaneateles scoring six times in the first period of this Lakers showdown on the way to a 10-0 decision that ended Cazenovia’s season.
Though Cazenovia only possessed a 3-17 record, it still finished fourth in the Division II National Conference because Ontario Bay went 0-12 in league play. Skaneateles prevailed 9-3 in their lone regular-season meeting Jan. 3.
Now, with a second straight sectional title and third straight trip to the state Division II title game squarely in its sights, Skaneateles wanted to make sure Cazenovia never got too close to them.
Less than three minutes had passed before Skaneateles had a 2-0 lead as Matt Benson netted the first goal and seconds later, Reggie Buell converted on a breakaway.
Not to be left out, Raymond Falso scored to make it 3-0, and just when Cazenovia thought things would ease off, Skaneateles would double that margin within a 93-second span as the period wound down.
Patrick Moore’s goal with 1:50 left in the period got it rolling, with Adam Lupo finding the net 20 seconds later, the fifth different goal-scorer on the night. Then, with 23 seconds left in the frame, Buell scored again off a feed from Falso.
Even Skaneateles could not maintain that pace the rest of the way, but Benson still scored twice in the second period to give him the hat trick and, in the third period, Benson netted a fourth goal as Buell found the net, too, to get his own hat trick.
Falso, who announced early this week that he is attending Nazareth College in Rochester next fall, finished the night with four assists, a number that Patrick Major matched, while Benson’s three assists gave him seven total points and Buell contributed a pair of assists.
Cameron Dye finished with 24 saves, and while his Cazenovia teammates took 20 shots, all of them were stopped by Skaneateles netminders Zach Wilhoit and Chris Falso.
