With all of the improvement it made in the latter portion of the 2018-19 season, the Cazenovia ice hockey team had a chance, in the Section III Division I playoffs, to display how far it had come after losing its first six games.
The first round of the sectional tournament last Wednesday at the Morrisville State IcePlex pitted the no. 7 seed Lakers against no. 10 seed Liverpool, whom it had beat 4-2 on this same ice late in January.
In the rematch, though, Cazenovia ultimately paid a steep price for its early-game struggles, finally getting on the board late, but seeing it matched in a 3-2 defeat to the Warriors.
Neither team scored until the second period, when Liverpool grabbed a 1-0 advantage, and then would answer twice once the Lakers broke through in the third period, overcoming 36 saves by Logan Palmer.
James LeFever and Forrest Ives both earned goals, with Andrew Parkhurst assisting on both scoring plays as Dylan McCrink also got an assist.
Still, Liverpool, with goals by Connor Boland, Jack Irwin and Pat Langlois, plus 23 saves from goalie Gavin Buza, finished in front and advanced to a sectional quarterfinal against West Genesee, where it would take a 7-3 defeat.
Meanwhile, the Lakers finished its season 6-14, taking some faith in the fact that just three seniors –Palmer, McCrink and Dominic Paglia– graduated, and a big cast could return in 2019-20 if LeFever, Ives, Parkhurst and J.D. Speer, among others, come back.
