CENTRAL NEW YORK – Passing the midway point of the regular season, each of the Cazenovia soccer teams knew they had to make serious improvements in order to consider long post-season runs.
And it did so, claiming a pair of hard-fought victories in between a trip to face the reigning state Class B champions who sat atop the state rankings and had not surrendered a goal in 320-plus minutes of game action.
Skaneateles would remain undefeated, but in the course of a 3-1 loss at Hyatt Stadium, Cazenovia made a dent that could prove valuable down the road.
Controlling the flow of play, Sknaeateles built a 2-0 halftime advantage as Tylar Moss and Owen Cheney netted goals and assisted one each other’s scoring plays.
Moss hit again early in the second half, but Cazenovia managed to break Skaneateles’ long shutout streak when Dan Millison scored with 18 minutes left off a feed from Michael Senehi. Matt Compeau had a strong effort in goal and finsihed with nine saves.
This followed a postponed Sept. 22 game against Westhill, which gave the Lakers a chance to rest since it had beat Marcellus 2-1 the night before.
Against the Mustangs, Cazenovia trailed 1-0 at half before Brody Coleman tied it on a goal assisted by Dan Raymond. Then J.D. Dolly converted with 10 minutes left, his game-winner assisted by Jackson Wright.
This proved a preview for what took place a week later against Jamesville-DeWitt, where another comeback produced a 3-2 overtime victory over the Red Rams.
Trailing 2-0 after just 20 minutes, the Lakers again turned to Dolly, who scored just before halfitme as James LaFever assisted. Then Millison tied it in the second half off a feed from Sully Clarke.
They went to OT, and late in the first extra period a long pass went to Coleman, whose shot hit J-D goalie Sam Allen, allowing Dolly to pounce on the rebound and put home the game-winner.
Flush with some momentum from that win, Cazenovia took on Homer Saturday and, improving to 7-2-1 on the season, routed the Trojans 6-1.
Back on Tuesday, the Cazenovia girls team hosted state Class B no. 20-ranked Westhill, and lost by that same 3-1 margin.
It was Raeanne Thompson getting on the board with a goal assisted by Katie Rajkowski. Sky Sanford recorded nine saves, but the Warriors’ Lilyanna Kinsella proved impossible to contain, scoring twice and assisting on Elle Herrera’s tally.
Facing Vernon-Verona-Sherrill on Friday night, the Lakers battled to a 1-0 win over the Red Devils, with Leaigha Fostveit’s goal the only tally for either side as Cazenovia improved to 4-6 overall.
Chittenango had its boys team carry a seven-match unbeaten streak into last Monday’s game against Westhill, only to have it broken up in a 3-1 defeat to the Warriors.
Westhill jumped out 2-0 by halfitme, and answered even when Lason Pagorek put the Bears on the board in the second half. Josh Daberro led the Warriors with one goal and one assist as Emmet Starowicz and Bohdan Centore also converted.
An even bigger test loomed when the Bears took its turn against Skaneateles on Thursday night at Hyatt Stadium, and the Bears lost 3-0 to the Lakers, who had Moss convert twice to overcome 11 saves by Chittenango goalie Will Simmons.
And a third straight defeat took place on Saturday, Chittenango falling 2-1 to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill. Andrew Albach’s second-half goal could not negate tallies by the Red Devils’ Jackson Mitchell and Lincoln Pelc, and goalie Cameron Robinson stopped 12 of the Bears’ 13 shots,
Chittenango’s girls lost 4-0 to Marcellus last Tuesday night. The Mustangs’ four goals came from four different players – Jadyn Baker, Ava Aupperle, Emma Roseboom and Sara Mielnicki. A 4-1 defeat to Westhill followed two nights later, with MadisonWagner breaking the shutout for the Bears.
