For the last six years, no Central New York boys lacrosse program can match the success of the Cazenovia Lakers.
During that span, Cazenovia has brought home two state championships, reached the state finals on two other occasions and, in 2016, got to the state semifinals before an overtime defeat to Penn Yan.
Now the challenge for head coach Jim Longo and his staff was to see how it would respond to the graduation of a senior class that included stars Cole Willard, T.J. Connellan, Derek White, Jake Lewis, Brenden Whalen, Adam Race, Jack Stowell and Kevin Frega.
That’s eight players who have, or will, go on to play college lacrosse. Replacing it, especially the goal-scoring production, is proving a tall task for Cazenovia head coach Jim Longo and his staff, a fact evidenced by last Saturday’s 6-3 defeat to Westhill to cap the opening week of the season.
Not since 2013 had the Warriors beat the Lakers, and for Westhill’s seniors in particular, that four-year drought included plenty of close calls, including 2015, when Cazenovia three times beat Westhill by a single goal, including the sectional final in the Carrier Dome.
Now the chance came for a bit of atonement, and the Warriors started to seize it by blanking Cazenovia in the first quarter, grabbing a 3-0 lead as Casey Rogers set the tone with a goal and assist on Owen Matukas’ tally, with Jack Grooms scoring 17 seconds before the period ended.
Fighting back, the Lakers closed the gap to 4-3 by halftime, led by Thomas Bragg, who twice put in shots from the point with a goal from John Williams in between. All along, the new-look Cazenovia defense, kept the Warriors from getting away as goalie R.J. Smith, replacing Whalen in the net, was on his way to 12 saves.
The Lakers’ best chance to catch up came in the third quarter, but two long possessions did not net a tying goal, and Rogers scored again to make it 5-3. Then, in the fourth quarter, the Warriors gained face-offs and patiently worked the ball around until it could get open shots.
Matukas, Braeden Elmer and Luke McAnaney delivered for goals that negated tallies by Bragg and Williams to put the game away. Alex Nowak assisted on two of Cazenovia’s goals, with Will Shephard contributing a single assist.
Defense told the main story of last Thursday night’s season opener at Marcellus, where the Lakers’ production was modest, but more than enough as it nearly shut out the Mustangs and roared to a 10-1 victory.
With Chris Becker, Trey Schugg and Jon Maracek dominating on the back line and Smith solid in the net, Cazenovia did not let Marcellus get on the board until the fourth quarter, when Sam Rice put one past Smith, who finished the night with six saves.
Williams scored Cazenovia’s first goal of the season, with Shephard and Bragg following up to make it 3-0 by the end of the first period. Four different players — Bragg, Williams, Nowak and Cole Basic– netted the four goals in the second period that put the game out of the Mustangs’ reach.
Adding two more goals in the second half, Bragg doubled his total to four, with Basic tacking on a second goal. What’s more, the Lakers’ back line protected Smith so well that he only had to make six saves.
But the loss to Westhill followed, and it won’t get easier for Cazenovia since it has to go to West Genesee on Tuesday night and visit another Class A power, Baldwinsville, on Saturday, with a visit to Chittenango on Thursday night in between.
