MORRISVILLE – Armed with talent, loaded with confidence and inspired to play for a fallen comrade, the Cazenovia ice hockey team put together a complete performance to earn a berth in the Section III Division I semifinals.
The no. 3 seed Lakers’ 11-0 romp over no. 6 seed Ontario Bay in Thursday’s sectional quarterfinal at Morrsiville State IcePlex marked quite a post-season debut, given that many of these players weren’t around when the last sectional tournament was held in 2020.
Yet one look at what the Cazenovia players wore while warming up should have provided a hint.
Each of them had on a long-sleeved shirt honoring the memory of Dominic Paglia, a former captain of the Cazenovia hockey team and 2019 graduate who, while attending Siena College, unexpectedly passed away last October at age 20. The shirts carried a memorial on the front and Paglia’s no. 17 on the back.
Then the game got underway, and Cazenovia, who beat Ontario Bay 7-3 when they met earlier this month, was even more dominant against a Storm side that toppled Watertown IHC 6-2 in the opening round.
Logan Hull’s goal in the game’s opening minute set the tone, and Dan Scholl made it 2-0 before the first period ended, but that was just a tune-up.
The Lakers put the game away with five second-period goals – two by Jake Owens, one each by Will Penoyer, Forrest Ives and Andrew Murray, which allowed Cazenovia to match its Ontario Bay total from the first meeting.
And it kept going in the third, Hull converting twice more and Owens adding a third goal as both finished with hat tricks and Cy McCrink stopped all 18 shots he faced.
Later that night, Cazenovia found out that it would face no. 2 seed Baldwinsville in next Thursday’s sectional semifinal at Three Rivers Athletic Complex in Lysander after the Bees used a strong third period to thwart an upset bid from Fayetteville-Manlius and win 4-2.
B’ville topped the Lakers 4-1 when they met in mid-January, but now the stakes are far higher – namely, a trip to Upstate Medical Arena at the War Memorial to play in next Monday night’s sectional final against West Genesee or Syracuse.
