CICERO – Through two full games and a handful of overtime periods, nothing separated the Cazenovia ice hockey team from Fayeteville-Manlius.
Eventually, someone had to pull ahead – and it was the no. 4 seed Hornets that did so in the second overtime period of Wednesday night’s Section III Division II quarterfinal at Cicero Twin Rinks.
The end result was a 3-2 defeat which ended the Lakers’ season, a campaign full of plenty of ups and downs and ultimately defined by the battles it waged against F-M.
When they first played Jan. 15 at Morrisville State IcePlex, it went back and forth but was not resolved, a 4-4 tie where the teams were close to even on shots (Cazenovia had 33, F-M 34) and Henry Miller scored twice for the Lakers, the other goals going to Jake Hightchew and Jack Casey.
Had Cazenovia won this game, it would have hosted F-M again as the no. 4 seed. Instead, it settled for the no. 5 seed and had to go to the Twin Rinks to try and upend a Hornets side who owned signature wins over three state-ranked teams – Skaneateles, Rome Free Academy and Cicero-North Syracuse – at different points this winter.
Miller would again convert in regulation, as would Finn Hagan, with the two sides able to turn back more opportunities against each other than they did in the first meeting.
Ezra Stahlberg was solid in the net and well-protected by Casey, Hagan and the rest of Cazenovia’s defense, allowing for regulation to end 2-2 as, again, the teams went to OT.
Needing to resolve things this time around, the Lakers and Hornets went through a scoreless first extra period. Only in the second OT did Henry Dougherty push the game-winning shot past Stahlberg, sending F-M to the sectional semifinals.
If the Lakers who finished with an overall record of 8-7-5 can keep its roster full of underclassmen intact for 2025-26 (Shamus Newcomb, Vinny DiNatale. Tucker Ives and Alex Pappas are the only seniors), then it could make a serious title run next winter.
