A different venue, and a different surface, but the same happy result for the Cazenovia boys soccer team when it involved facing off with its neighbors from Chittenango.
For the second time in less than a week, the two sides met last Monday night at the Sean Googin Sports complex, with the Lakers this time not letting the Bears get on the board and prevailing 3-0.
When they had first played Sept. 27 on the Field Turf at Chittenango, it was a 3-1 decision in Cazenovia’s favor, and despite the payback and revenge motive, the Bears found it even more frustrating in the rematch.
Midway through the first half, the Lakers went in front on Joe Spires’ goal. Minutes later, it was 2-0, Cazenovia converting a corner kick thanks to a Jack Aronson header.
Another corner kick in the second half led to a third Lakers goal, this tone by Trey Schug, as Liam Flannery, Brian Pezzi and Ray Satchwell each got an assist along the way. Only Noah Schnauffer’s 12 saves kept the Bears within range.
However, Cazenovia couldn’t relax much because, on Friday, it had to face state Class B no. 5-ranked Skaneateles, a game started on Wednesday at Fenner but abandoned at the eight-minute mark due to standing water on the field.
They reconvened on Friday, at the Lyndon fields near Jamesville-DeWitt High School, and it proved exciting, with Cazenovia nearly erasing a two-goal deficit, but dropping this Lakers duel by a 2-1 margin.
For the first half-hour, neither side could break through despite plenty of chances, but in the 31st minute Andrew Moss headed in a corner kick from Tylar Moss, and 25 seconds before halftime another corner converted for Skaneateles, Tylar Moss this time feeding it to Thomas Reed, who put it home.
Less than eight minutes into the second half, Pezzi cut Cazenovia’s deficit in half with a powerful right-footed shot into the top left corner of the net off a long pass from Aronson.
The pace remained frantic, with disallowed goals and near-misses aplenty. Cazenovia, in particular, applied heavy pressure in the last two minutes, with a free kick and corner kick turned away and Schug’s point-blank shot grabbed by Yorvan Solis in the waning seconds.
After this all-out effort, Cazenovia had to play again on Saturday, falling 4-3 to Whitesboro despite two more goals by Schug, with Spires getting one goal and one assist. Will Harrington and Max Michael also had assists.
After it lost to Cazenovia, Chittenango played at Phoenix Wednesday and gradually unloaded on the Firebirds in a 7-0 victory, taking 22 shots overall and getting goals from seven different players.
Jan Hartman, Anthony Roberts, Artie Paul, Tom McIntosh, Caleb Prenoveau and Austin Strickler each got credit for a goal, with Hartman and Roberts earning assists. Sean Larsson had an assist, as did Billy Demand and Dan Moon.
Now Chittenango would host state-ranked Clinton on Saturday afternoon, and it lost 3-1 to the Warriors. Vince Cameron’s second-half goal could not keep Clinton from getting away, led by Jacob Lewis, who scored twice.
Westhill, Homer and Bishop Grimes all face the Bears in the last week of the regular season just as Cazenovia has three games of its own against Holland Patent, CBA and South Jefferson.
