LIVERPOOL – As hard rain fell over Liverpool High School Stadium early Friday evening, the Cazenovia boys lacrosse team was in prime position to claim a Section III championship.

Having almost fallen out of the playoffs in the quarterfinal round, the Lakers now found itself in front of LaFayette/Onondaga in the third quarter of the Class D title game, only needing to maintain its effort in order to finish on top.

Instead, at the worst moment possible Cazenovia’s offense dried up, and the Lancers, completing a remarkable rescue from a slump that lasted nearly the entire regular season, prevailed 10-7 to earn the sectional title.

All of this seemed unlikely when these teams first met May 5, a game dominated by Cazenovia as it ripped LaFayette 17-5. Right after that, the Lancers’ record dipped to 4-8, with little indication that it would recover and even get to the sectional tournament.

But then LaFayette won three in a row, secured the no. 4 seed in Class D and, after a quarterfinal romp over South Jefferson, upended top seed Skaneateles in a wild 17-15 semifinal on May 24 right after Cazenovia had upended Marcellus in the other semifinal, avenging two regular-season losses to the Mustangs.

Now, in the sectional final, the intention for LaFayette was similar to what had not worked for Marcellus – namely, trying to contain Cazenovia attacker Brody Coleman, who entered the game having scored 79 goals this spring.

Again, the Lakers worked well around this plan early, Coleman dishing out four assists as D.B. Falge and Jack Wright both scored twice, with single goals going to Forrest Ives, Chris Vecchiarelli and Wyatt Hartley.

Leading 3-2 after one period, Cazenovia’s margin held up and then, in the third quarter, expanded, the Lakers up 7-4 and poised to grab control. But it would never score again, stymied by an inspired LaFayette defense that, combined with the wet conditions, frustrated the Lakers’ plans.

A pivotal 4-0 run to close the period got LaFayette in front, and throughout the fourth quarter Cazenovia remained quiet, unable to turn around the momentum that had gone the Lancers’ way.

Meanwhile, Jameson Bucktooth and Kahtehliyo Smith led the comeback, Bucktooth finishing with four goals and one assist and Smith contributing three goals, LaFayette advancing to face Chenango Forks in the regional round as the Lakers’ season concluded with an 11-8 record. Remarkably, all eight of Cazenovia’s losses were by three goals or less.

Cazenovia still had a lot to celebrate on this weekend, though, as Lakers alum Cole Willard helped lead an undefeated University of Tampa Spartans to the NCAA Division II championship.

In Sunday’s 11-7 victory over Mercy College in the final at East Hartford, Connecticut, Willard put in four goals on just five shot attempts. He transferred to Tampa after four years at Penn State, taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted student-athletes due to COVID-19.

Willard was just one of many Section III athletes on the undefeated Tampa squad, which included Casey Platenik (Jamesville-DeWitt), Owen Matukas, Charlie Bolesh, Luke McAnaney (all from Westhill), Braeden Williams (LaFayette), Nick Papa (Fayetteville-Manlius), Dan Stehle (Baldwinsville) and Robert Lobello (Marcellus).