Even with a narrow May 3 defeat at Marcellus, the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team still found itself carrying plenty of poise and confidence into the regular-season homestretch.
This showed up in last Tuesday’s game against visiting Westhill, where the Lakers got in front early and withstood every possible charge by the Warriors to pull out a 9-8 victory.
Steady play on both ends helped Cazenovia get in front 5-3 by halftime. The Warriors tried to catch up, getting three-goal hat tricks from Jack Grooms and Will Delano as Owen Matukas and Luke McAnaney each got one goal and one assist.
But the Lakers held on, seeing Thomas Bragg and Alex Nowak both finish with three goals and one assist, while Brody Coleman had two goals and one assist. Trey Schug converted, too, as R.J. Smith got 10 saves, the same total as Westhill counterpart Liam Felter.
When Cazenovia met state Class C no. 6-ranked Homer two nights later, it again proved close, the third time in eight days a Lakers game was decided by a goal – but it lost here to the Trojans 8-7.
A bad second quarter cost Cazenovia, who was tied 2-2 before getting blanked in that period and seeing Homer build a 6-2 advantage led by the brother tandem of Dante and Dylan Yacavone, who would combine for five goals overall.
Gradually, the Lakers fought back, moving within 7-4 and then, in the fourth quarter, getting goal from Bragg and Nowak to cut Homer’s lead to one.
But a late Trojans goal meant that a Cazenovia tally in the waning seconds left it one short. Bragg finished with two goals and one assist and Brian Pezzi also scored twice, with Cole Basic adding a goal and two assists. Tim Burr added a goal and Smith made six saves.
Much as that defeat hurt, Saturday’s 16-9 loss to LaFayette may have stung more because this was a Lancers team that only held a 7-6 record going into the game.
And it was close for three quarters, Cazenovia only trailing 8-7 before its defense got run over in the final period, LaFayette closing on an 8-2 spurt as Reid Jackowski (three goals, three assists) and Gavin Hill (three goals, one assist) led the charge.
Bragg scored four times, adding two assists, while Nowak got two goals. Schug, Basic and Matt McLaughlin had one goal apiece as Coleman added an assist.
The up-and-down season of the Chittenango Bears continued last Monday night when it hosted Cortland and didn’t get going until the second half, which proved too late in a 14-9 defeat.
Controlling things on both ends, the Purple Tigers built a 7-2 halftime lead. The Bears improved from there, Caleb Barnad getting most of his four goals in the latter stages.
Billy Demand had two goals and two assists, with single goals going to Francis Cerio, Seth Spurgeon and Hunter Penoyer. Zeph Scott added an assist.
Patrick Donner had nine saves, yet couldn’t contain a consistent Cortland attack where Alex Myers got five goals, with Rory Hines adding four goals as Brandon Ludwig got a three-goal hat trick.
Then Chittenango had to face state Class C no. 7-ranked Homer a night later, taking a 17-2 defeat to the Trojans, who bolted out to a 9-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Barnard and Cerio would get goals in the game’s middle stages. Donner and Corey Jackowski made nine saves between them as Homer had 10 different goal-scorers, led by Dante Yacavone, who had three goals and four assists.
On Thursday night, Chittenango did not get on the board until the third quarter in a 14-2 defeat to Marcellus. Spurgeon and Penoyer had the goals, with Jackson Lawrence adding an assist. Barnard and Corey Jackowski combined for 12 saves.
A 15-4 defeat to reigning state Class D champion Christian Brothers Academy followed on Saturday night for the Bears, who fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter and could not recover. Spurgeon, Scott, Shane Kolb and Caleb Barnard had one goal apiece.
Following Chittenango’s game Tuesday at Westhill and Cazenovia’s trip to CBA that same night, both sides would find out their post-season fates as the Section III tournament starts this weekend.
