What the Cazenovia ice hockey team will remember its 2019-20 season for is the way it responded after losing its first seven games by a combined 53-11 margin.
A mid-season stretch of four wins and a tie in seven games followed, and though there were some late struggles, a 3-2 victory over Watertown IHC meant that the Lakers got to enter the Section III Division I playoffs.
In Tuesday night’s opening round at Onondaga Nation Arena, the no. 10 seed Lakers met no. 7 seed CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, whom it had played Dec. 17 and lost by a 6-2 margin.
As expected, the Brothers swarmed the Lakers’ net throughout the first period, taking 20 shots, all of them stopped by Cy McCrink, and the game stayed 0-0.
Cazenovia then got on the board in the second period with Forrest Ives’ goal, but CBA/J-D converted twice to go in front.
All of that pressure from the Brothers started to take a toll by the third period, where the Lakers surrendered three straight goals, leading to a 5-1 defeat as McCrink finished the night with 54 saves.
CBA/J-D’s attack was diverse as five different players – Isaiah Raby, Tanner Burns, Matt Walker, Simon Lesser and John Greenwood – had their five goals, with Kodi Dotterer and Seamus Nicholson each earning two assists.
Of the Lakers’ 20 shots, 19 were stopped by Brothers goalie Joe Salvador as it advanced to face West Genesee in the sectional quarterfinals.
This was a young Cazenovia roster with just two seniors, Andrew Parkhurst and Nick Korosec, so a large returning cast for the 2020-21 season could produce plenty of improvement.
When the sectional All-Star teams were announced, seven Lakers – Parkhurst, McCrink, Ives, Josh Donlin, Jake Owens, Josh Whaley and George Labinski – earned Honorable Mention status.
