CENTRAL NEW YORK – Through lean and plentiful times, Lorraine Scheftic has guided the Cazenovia field hockey program, leaving an immense impact on all the players she has coached.
And it’s produced 300 career victories, a milestone attained Friday afternoon when the Lakers went to Cato-Meridian and recorded a 7-0 victory over the Blue Devils.
“I cannot think of another coach who has done it right more than Lorraine,” said Cazenovia athletic director Mike Byrnes. “Intertwined in all of those 300 wins are world-class sportsmanship, integrity, caring, intensity, fairness, discipline and joy for her sport and all of her players,”
After some modest success in her early years, Cazenovia reeled off 10 consecutive Section III titles from 2007 to 2016, peaking with back-to-back state Class C championships in 2010 and ’11.
What was more, it was done with the Lakers always testing itself beyond its usual league schedules, facing large-school powerhouses on a yearly basis, and also without an all-weather home field, unlike so many other local programs.
While this year’s Lakers squad is still a long way from those sorts of ambitions, it has picked up a 4-2 record and, with the win at Cato, had prevailed for the third time in a row.
Determined to get Scheftic’s milestone, Cazenovia grabbed a quick 2-0 advantage in the first quarter on the Blue Devils, added a second-period tally and four more after intermission, scoring in every quarter.
Six different players netted those seven goals, with only Hadley Schug converting twice. Sophie Clancy had one goal and one assist, while Sammy Sparks, Reid McMurtrie, Tara Frost and Emily Forrett also converted.
Typical of Scheftic’s teams, the Lakers, on the way to a 2-2 start, alternated between close defeats to large-school opponents Fayetteville-Manlius and Rome Free Academy with romps over Cortland and Homer.
Then Cazeznovia went on the road and, in last Tuesday’s game at Port Byron, unleashed a steady attack that resulted in a 3-1 victory over the Panthers.
Sparks led the way, notching a goal and assisting on another. Schug and Forrett also converted, with Mackenzie McDowell notching Port Byron’s lone goal.
That produced victory no. 299 for Scheftic, and no. 300 followed, a feat that will be honored by the school next Friday when it hosts Oneida at Burton Street Elementary School after a Wednesday trip to Weedsport.
“What makes this achievement so special is thinking about all her players, past and present, her hard-working assistant coaches and her family members, especially her four children and husband, Chuck, that have been such a huge part of all that is Cazenovia field hockey,” said Byrnes.
