Nothing has proven too easy for the boys lacrosse teams of Cazenovia and Chittenango in the early stages of the 2019 season, though some of that had to do with the top opponents they were facing.

That was certainly true in the Lakers’ case, for a March 30 defeat to LaFayette at Cazenovia College’s Christakos Field was followed last Tuesday by a trip to Baldwinsville and more struggles as it lost 19-7 to the Bees.

The same Cazenovia defense that gave up 18 goals to LaFayette surrendered 12 to a ferocious B’ville attack in the first half, which set a pace the Lakers found impossible to keep up with.

It was 17-5 before the Bees let up a bit in the fourth quarter, having seen Adam Davis get four goals and Spencer Wirtheim, Noah Ravas and Braden McCard each find the net three times, Wirtheim adding four assists.

Cole Basic still had three goals and one assist on the Lakers’ side, while Gannon Houghton found the net twice. Single goals went to Brody Coleman and Ryan Romagnoli as Trey Schug and Chase Willard earned assists.

In a Thursday-night trip to Section V power Penn Yan, Cazenovia was much closer, yet still lost, 9-6, to the Mustangs, leaving it at 0-3 as it returned to Christakos Field Saturday to face Jordan-Elbridge.

Here, at last, the Lakers proved successful, holding off the Eagles 7-4 in large part due to its defense, which ably protected the 5-2 lead Cazenovia built early, shutting out J-E in the fourth quarter just to be sure. Kollin Humberstone stopped 11 of 15 shots he face.d

Just as he did against Baldwinsville, Basic produced three goals and one assist. Brian Pezzi scored twice, with Coleman and Gannon Houghton earning the other goals and Coleman adding an assist.

Chittenango had its own game with J-E last Tuesday night, starting well enough, but not following it up as it fell to the Eagles 13-6.

It was 2-1 in the Bears’ favor through one quarter, yet its attack could not find consistent production, something that wasn’t a problem for J-E, who netted five goals in the second quarter and did the same in the final period to pull away.

Shane Kolb did give Chittenango a three-goal hat trick, with single tallies going to Zeph Scott, Ethan Robles and Caleb Barnard. Brad Tily added an assist and Corey Jackowski finished with 12 saves.

Wade Brunelle led the way for the Eagles as he scored four times and added an assist. Luke Pinckney and Riordan Parker both had two goals and one assist, with Jeremiah Sparks also finding the net twice.

At Clinton two nights later, the Bears nearly found success, only to fall 8-7 to the Warriors, who got four goals from Nick Mondore and 10 saves from goalie Josh Trask.

In Saturday’s game against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, Chittenango lost again, this one an 11-4 decision. Barnard earned a goal and assisted on tallies by Kolb and Tily, but the Red Devils used a 5-1 second-quarter push to take the lead for good, led by Cade Decker (three goals, two assists) and Justin Smith (two goals, two assists).

On Tuesday night, as the Bears (1-4) host LaFayette, Cazenovia visits Watertown, before another short hop to Christakos Field Saturday to face its Lakers namesakes from Skaneateles.