CENTRAL NEW YORK – Only a strong finish to the regular season would allow the Cazenovia ice hockey team to improve its place in the Division I standings and its ultimate Section III playoff seed.
In the meantime, the Lakers continued to impress, especially in Friday’s game against state Division II no. 12-ranked CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt, where some history was made in a 6-4 victory over the Brothers.
When Jack Donlin scored twice in the first three minutes of the second period, he surpassed 100 career points, the first Cazenovia player to join that club since Connor Cannizzaro did so in 2013.
It also built upon a 2-1 first-period lead established when Donlin’s line mate, Forrest Ives, scored twice on breakaways, one of them short-handed.
Ives returned to complete his hat trick in the last minute of the period to make it 5-2, and Logan Hull tacked on an insurance goal in the third to go with his pair of assists. Jack Casey also had an assist.
As the game went on, CBA/J-D picked up its attack, but Ezra Stahlberg was able to pick up 31 saves to allow the Lakers to hang on and run its unbeaten streak to five.
In its only league game last week, the Lakers went to Fulton and put up one of its best offensive performances of the season, pulling away to top the Red Raiders 8-3.
Fulton actually got on the board first before Ives tied it with his 13th goal of the season and Hull’s one-timed shot off a pass from Donlin gave Cazenovia the late for good late in the opening period.
But Hull was just getting warmed up, as in the second he struck for a natural hat trick to go with Ives’ second goal of the night that helped make it 6-2.
Casey and Jacob Grevelding awould both tack on third-period goals as Hull would join Casey and Forrest Ives getting two assists apiece and Tucker Ives, in goal, earned 18 saves.
At 9-6-1 overall after the win over CBA/J-D, the Lakers host Ontario Bay Wednesday before a Friday-night trip to the Twin Rinks to face Cicero-North Syracuse.
