the Cazenovia girls soccer team evolves into a strong contender, it will point to the second half of last Thursday night’s game against Skaneateles at the Sean Googin Sports Complex as a pivot.
Mired in an early-season slump, and scoreless in the first half, Cazenovia turned to Maddy Gavitt, who delivered a timely dose of offense that helped decide this Laker duel and produce a 3-1 victory.
First, it was Cazenovia’s defense that stood out, keeping a potent Skaneateles side scoreless in the first half and then only allowing Riley Brogan’s goal in the latter stages. Tessa Hansknecht stopped nine of the 10 shots she faced.
Meanwhile, Gavitt took over. She converted seven minutes into the second half and, after Brogan tied it, got fouled inside the 18-yard box near the midway point of the half.
Calmly, Gavitt converted the penalty kick, and not content with that, Gavitt returned to score again for a hat trick and a much-needed Cazenovia win.
None of this was anticipated by the games leading up to it. Cazenovia went to Clinton on Labor Day weekend and struggled in a 7-0 defeat to the Warriors, constantly under attack as goalie Annie Baldwin made 18 saves overall.
Clinton was up 4-0 by halftime and ultimately had seven different players – Sydni Dreimiller, Elyse Jackson, Skyler Jones, Maddy Luke, Gerci Dreimiller, Gwen Williams and Emmeline MacPherson – earn its seven goals. Dreimiller and Jackson added assists.
It didn’t get much better last Tuesday at Fayetteville-Manlius, where the Lakers were roughed up 8-1 by the Hornets as it trailed 5-0 by halftime and saw Hannah Knych get four goals and one assist.
At least Molly Dolan converted in the second half, assisted by Gavitt, to prevent a shutout. Tessa Hansknecht had six saves as, to help Knych, Ashley Carter had a goal and two assists for the Hornets.
Just like its male counterparts, the Chittenango girls soccer team began its season by hosting a tournament, though the schedule was altered to deal with extreme heat.
Instead of opening Aug. 29 against Phoenix, the Bears played Homer 24 hours later, when the temperatures had cooled more than 20 degrees.
Though grateful for the change in conditions, Chittenango didn’t take full advantage of its, falling 3-1 to Homer. Madison Wagner had the Bears’ lone goal, unassisted.
None of Chittenango’s other eight shots got past Trojans goalie Sequia Guyette as Homer’s Maddy Cole scored twice. Ava Dardaris, the Bears’ netminder, had five saves.
The Phoenix game got made up on Aug. 31, and the Bears prevailed 2-0, with Wagner and Kendria Moore earning Chittenango’s goals and assists coming from Sarah Martin and Ally Shoemaker. Dardaris stopped all four shots she faced.
Then Chittenango had a Class AA test, going to Archie Hall Stadium to face Cicero-North Syracuse, but falling 4-1 to the Northstars.
Martin did get an unassisted goal in the second half, but only after C-NS had grabbed a 2-0 first-half edge and remained in front. Dardaris had 12 saves, still having four different Northstars – Ashlyn Slate, Madelyn Jackson, Marissa Bukowski and Taylor Howard – score those four goals.
More fun for the Bears came in Thursday’s 7-0 destruction of Jordan-Elbridge, a game that included four goals from Martin as Chittenango took 42 shots overall. Wagner and Shoemaker both had two assists, with Emily Moon finding the net twice and Wagner getting a single goal.
