As it spent two months taking the kinds of lumps it had dished out to so many opponents in recent years, the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team kept working and improving, but still wondered if it would get a proper reward for all that work and improvement.
It arrived, just in time, during Saturday night’s Section III Class D quarterfinal. Against a heavy favored namesake on its home field at Hyatt Stadium, Cazenovia, the no. 6 seed, took control near the midway point and did not look back, stunning no. 3 seed Skaneateles 12-8.
A 6-10 regular season meant that Cazenovia needed to lean on its league record of 6-6 just to make the sectional tournament. One of those 10 defeats came on April 27, at Skaneateles.
However, that 13-11 loss carried with it a long-term lesson. Trailing 11-6 going into the fourth quarter, Cazenovia nearly made up that deficit, and from that game arose a belief among the Cazenovia players that, if it got another chance against those other Lakers, it could come out on top.
So even though Skaneateles carried a 12-4 record and no. 5 state ranking into the playoff rematch, it soon found itself in a serious battle, Cazenovia using goals by Alex Nowak and Will Shephard to forge a 2-2 tie.
Skaneateles appeared to get control by seizing a 5-2 lead early in the second period, but late in the half, Cazenovia moved in front for good with five straight goals and then adding two more from Nowak (his third and fourth of the night) early in the third period to take a 9-5 lead.
Stunned by this 7-0 Cazenovia outburst, Skaneateles only scored once the rest of the quarter, and Cazenovia stretched out its advantage to 12-6 in the final period and protecting that margin behind a vastly improved defense anchored by goalie R.J. Smith, who had seven saves.
Nowak finished with five goals and two assists, while Thomas Bragg had three goals and two assists. Shephard also had two assists as he and Will Khalil both scored twice, John Williams and Cole Basic adding single assists. Pat Hackler paced Skaneateles with three goals and two assists.
Now Cazenovia will look to upend another highly-ranked foe it lost to in the regular season when it faces no. 2 seed Westhill in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal at East Syracuse Minoa Stadium.
The Warriors, also no. 2 in the state rankings, knocked off Jordan-Elbridge 22-11 in its sectional quarterfinal and topped Cazenovia by an 8-5 margin in early April and 17-5 earlier this month. The third encounter determines who faces CBA or LaFayette in Thursday’s sectional final at Liverpool High School Stadium.
