In order to give itself a better chance against bigger-named opponents, the Cazenovia girls lacrosse team first had to prove that it could stand up to its peers – which it did with a pair of impressive victories.
The key game in this sequence for the Lakers came last Thursday, against Jordan-Elbridge. The 5-4 Lakers held the no. 19 spot in the first state Class D rankings of the season, with the no. 11-ranked Eagles eight spots above them, but that didn’t matter much as Cazenovia rallied from behind to beat J-E 14-13 in overtime.
During a fast-paced first half, the Eagles’ defense had difficulty containing Cazenovia forward Chloe Willard, who would eventually score seven goals. Yet the Lakers only led 10-9 at halftime, and J-E went out in front with four straight goals early in the second half, the attack centered around Alexis Fietta, who poured in a season-best five goals.
Led again by Willard, Cazenovia made its own comeback to tie it, 13-13, and the Lakers gained a player advantage because J-E was flagged for a card in the last seconds of regulation.
Cazenovia defender Morgan Maliga, a strong presence in the draw circle throughout the latter stages, won the OT, draw and the Lakersworked the ball around. Worried about Willard, the Eagles left Keara Dwyer open, and she put it past Allie Derby for the game-winner, her third goal of the day to go with three assists.
Lucy Connor offered support to Willard and Dwyer, scoring twice and adding an assist, while single goals went to Megan Henderson, Grace Rajkowski and Mikaylee Whalen. Helping Fietta on the J-E attack, Marissa Malvaso had three goals and one assist, with Alexis Braun adding a goal and three assists. Antonia Malvaso and Allison Jennings had two goals apiece.
Going into that game with some momentum, the Lakers won a tough 11-8 decision over state no. 18-ranked Tully last Tuesday afternoon,
They were tied, 5-5, going into halftime, but the Lakers improved on both ends during the second half, tightening up its defense while, at the same time, continuing to depend on Dwyer and Willard to lead the attack.
Dwyer set a season mark with six goals, adding an assist, and Tully couldn’t focus on Dwyer since Willard was productive, too, scoring four times and adding an assist. Rajkowski had the other goal as Connor and Olivia Catania earned assists. Laura Lorraine was solid in the net, recording nine saves.
Chittenango would struggle in back-to-back games early last week, starting with a 19-3 defeat to LaFayette where the Lancers built up a 9-1 edge by halftime and maintained that torrid pace long after the running clock was in effect.
Riley Brown, Kaiden Williams and Sam Forbey each scored goals for the Bears, with Kayla Kissel earning an assist. Hailee Watt made nine saves in goal as, for LaFayette, Charlotte Ryan (six goals, one assist), Mya DeJoseph (five goals) and Carha Williams (two goals, five assists) led the way.
Things didn’t improve much for the Bears a night later as it fell to Whitesboro 12-1. It was 10-0 in the Warriors’ favor by halftime, and only Ally Shoemaker’s second-half goal prevented a shutout. Watt had seven saves. Lexi Scaccia and Alex Kopcza led Whitesboro with three goals apiece.
