The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Cazenovia drops road contest at Westhill
Bragg’s hat trick not enough as Lakers suffer first loss
SYRACUSE >> Cazenovia has faced several early deficits in its boys lacrosse meetings with Westhill in recent seasons, more often than not coming back to pull out a close victory.
That wasn’t the case on Saturday.
The Lakers trailed 3- 0 at the end of the first quarter against their rival and never recovered, losing 8-5 to fall to 1-1 on the season.
Thomas Bragg scored three goals in defeat for the visitors while Casey Rogers, Owen Matukas and Braeden Elmer scored two goals apiece to lead a balanced attack for the hosts.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the early going. Cazenovia goalie R. J. Smith stopped shots by Westhill’s Andrew Hodgens and Jack Grooms in the opening six minutes while Bragg had a shot clang off the post during that span. The Lakers were flagged for too many men on the field with 6:04 to play in the period and, as the penalty expired and John Williams was returning to the field, Rogers sent a shot past Smith for a 1-0 Westhill lead. The hosts needed less than a minute to notch another score, taking a 3-0 advantage on Matukas’ first goal with the assist to Rogers. Grooms added a goal with 17 seconds to play in the first quarter and Westhill took a 3-0 lead to the second.
Following a Cazenovia timeout, Bragg broke through
with 9:16 to play in the period with his first goal. A penalty gave the visitors a man advantage but goalie TimO’Connor scooped up a pass to end that threat and Elmer scored his first goal a minute later, extending the lead to 4-1 with 7:07 to play in the quarter.
Penalties, however, continued to be a problem for Westhill. The hosts had four players sent to the sideline over the final 6:08 of the first half. Cazenovia capitalized on goals from John Williams and Bragg, closing the gap to 4-3 going into halftime.
The Lakers opened the second half with a long stretch of possession but failed to put a shot on goal and the hosts took over again with 7:30 to play in the third. Rogers needed 93 seconds to find the back of the net for his second goal, giving Westhill a 5-3 lead that it would take into the final period.
Cazenovia won the face of f to start the fourth, leading to a Matt McLaughlin shot that O’Connor stopped. Westhill countered and added to its lead on Matukas’ second goal, taking a 6-3 lead with 9:22 to play. Willams netted his second goal for the Lakers, scoring while being pushed to the ground with 3:11 to play but goals from Elmer and Luke McAnaney extended the host’s lead to 8- 4 with under a minute to play. Bragg added one more goal for the visitors with 34.7 seconds to play but any hope of a Cazenovia comeback ended there.