CENTRAL NEW YORK – A week into 2022, the Cazenovia ice hockey team was supposed to get a major test against the reigning Section III Division I champion.
The Syracuse Cougars were set to make its way to the Morrisville State IcePlex last Friday night, but the game got postponed, leaving both sides to sit on prolonged win streaks.
Cazenovia precded the game with Syracuse with back-to-back wins over Mohawk Valley, the first of which took place on New Year’s Eve at the IcePlex.
That 8-3 victory featured another quick start from the Lakers, with goals by Forrest Ives, Jake Owens and Logan Hull that created a 3-0 margin.
Though the Raiders converted twice in the second period to pull within 3-2, Hull converted and then Owens netted his second goal in the waning seconds to make it 5-2.
Hull completed his hat trick in the third period as Gage Marshall and Josh Whaley also found the net. Ives, Jack Donlin and James LaFever had two assists apiece as Cam Schlebler and Vinny DiNatale also got in the assist column.
The rematch with Mohawk Valley last Tuesday at Rome’s Kennedy Arena proved even more lopsided as Cazenovia attacked and converted at will during a 9-1 win over the Raiders.
Remaining red-hot, Hull scored twice in each of the first two periods, meaning that he had accumulated 12 goals in his team’s last five games.
In all, the Lakers had six goals in the second to break it open, with Ives notching two assists to go with his lone tally as Donlin, Owens and Whaley each had one goal and one assist.
Andrew Murray also chimed in with a goal. Tyson Frederiksen managed two assists, while Shamus Newcomb, Jacob Grevelding and Gage Marshall earned one assist apiece.
Denied the chance to play Syracuse, the Lakers hoped to have another big game on Tuesday when state no. 4-ranked Baldwinsville visited the IcePlex before a Thursday trp to Fulton.
