CENTRAL NEW YORK – Sitting in fourth place in the Division I regular-season standings. the Cazenovia ice hockey team set out to make its loudest statement of an already successful winter.
It was the state no. 8-ranked Lakers against reigning sectional and state champion Syracuse Friday at Morrisville State IcePlex, exactly one week after those teams were supposed to meet before it got snowed out.
Whether it was the extra week of preparation or an opponent not in top form, Cazenovia did not care, keeping the state no. 6-ranked Cougars off the board until the third period and earning a 4-1 victory with huge ramifications.
The win meant that Cazenovia and Syracuse would both finish 9-2 in league play, and with the head-to-head tie-breaker, it was the Lakers, and not the Cougars, sitting in third place.
Key to the outcome was Cazenovia keeping the game scoreless in the first period before taking over in the second, Jake Owens and Forrest Ives finding the net for a 2-0 advantage.
And to counteract Syracuse’s lone goal from Tommy Rioux in the third peirod, the Lakers put the game away as Logan Hull and Josh Whaley netted insurance goals.
Will Penoyer amassed three assists, with Hull and Jack Donlin earning one assist apiece. Impressive in the net, Cy McCrink stopped 26 of Syracuse’s 27 shots.
As Syracuse fell to B’ville, Cazenovia was at Kennedy Arena, taking over in the middle stages of its game with Rome Free Academy and prevailing by a score of 5-1.
They were scoreless until the second period, when John Sharrino briefly put the Black Knights in front, but the Lakers countered with three straight goals.
Owens tied it and then, in the last minute of the period, Whaley put his team in front and, with 14 seconds left, Donlin added to the margin.
It stayed 3-1 most of the third period, and when RFA pulled it goalie, Penoyer put in an empty-net goal with 55 seconds left, Hull adding another tally with five seconds to play.
Hull, Penoyer, Owens and Donlin all got credit for assists, joined by Russ LaFever, Dan Scholl and Tyson Frederiksen, while McCrink shut out the Black Knights in the last two-plus periods and finished with 17 saves.
Playing again 24 hours later, the Lakers went to Whitesboro and again proved successful, claiming a 4-2 victory over the Warriors.
Despite out-shooting Whitesboro 13-4 in the first period, Cazenovia trailed 1-0 before all that pressure paid off in the second, Donlin and Owens both earning goals.
Owens converted again in the third period, but the game wasn’t safe until Andrew Murray converted an empty-net goal in the closing minutes.
