The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Caz boys take on B-ville to open season
CAZENOVIA, N.Y. » The Cazeno- via boys lacrosse team faced a formidable opponent in head coach Dave Falge’s first game at the helmof the program, taking on defending Section III Class A champion Baldwinsville at Cazenovia College on Thursday.
Unfortunately for Laker fans, Cazenovia was unable dig out of a first half hole, falling to Bald- winsville 12-7.
Cole Peters and Peter Fiorini both netted hat tricks to power the Bees’ attack. Teammates
Brandon Mimas and Adam Davis followed with two goals a piece, and Justin Johnson posted eight saves while minding the cage.
Thomas Bragg led Cazenovia and all scorers with four goals in the Laker loss. Cazenovia net-minder RJ Smith had 16 saves.
“A win is a win. We didn’t play our best game. We didn’t play our cleanest game. We got a ‘W’ to start; that’s always a good start,” Baldwinsville coach Matt Wilcox said. “We’ve got a long way to go. It is a veteran group, but I keep telling these guys, ‘Every single day matters.’ We try to get better every day.”
Peters got things going for the Bees in the first, finding the back of the net less than two minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead. Mo- ments later, with 7:37 remaining in the first, Fiorini split a pair of Laker defenders and fired a shot home to add to the Baldwinsville advantage. The Bees almost added another score in the final two minutes of the quarter, but Smith denied an Austin Bolton attempt to keep Cazenovia within two entering the second quarter.
Baldwinsville, playing on a field for just the fifth time all spring, flashed its pedigree in a 5-goal second for a 7-1 halftime advantage.
“I think we were having trouble shooting. The goalie [Smith] played outstanding,” Wilcox said. “We got to the ride. Once we started riding hard, we got some goals off that and got us going.”
Tanner McCaffrey fed Bolton for an open shot and a Baldwinsville score 32 seconds into the second quarter for a 3-0 lead, and the Bees likely would have added more if not for a string of three impressive saves by Smith.
“He’s a 3-year starter. Great kid. One of our captains this year. We couldn’t ask for anymore in the cage than what RJ gives us. He’s going to be a standout this year, and [tonight] is just the beginning of great things out of him,” Falge said of his goalie.
The Baldwinsville attack kept forcing the issue, however. Fiorini picked up his second goal of the night midway through the frame, and Davis tallied his first score of the night with 4:51 remaining in the half to push the Bees’ lead to 5-0. Bragg got the Lakers on the board at the 3:03 mark, but Baldwinsville added two more scores to sport a 7-1 advantage at the break.
“We got lost a little bit. They had some easy goals. They are very good at pushing the ball on the perimeter and then feeding the crease,” Falge said of the first half. “I thoughtwe paid the price a little bit in the first. We tightened down in the second half, and I think we shut them down in the third quarter.”
Out of the intermission, Baldwinsville needed all of 13 seconds to grow its lead to 8-1 on a Mimas goal before the Cazenovia offense started to click. Bragg set up teammate Brian Pezzi for the Lakers’ second tally of the contest at the 5:50mark before rifling a shot of his own into the corner of the net to pull Cazenoviawithin five. Alex Nowak added his first goal of the season with a minute to go in the third to help Cazenovia cut its deficit to four goals entering the final quarter of action.
Baldwinsville used the opening minutes of the fourth to push its lead back to six courtesy of scores from Mimas and Michael Tangredi. Bragg answered for the Lakers with a clever behind-the-back goal, but Baldwinsville responded with two more goals, one each from Fiorini and Peters to extend the Bee lead back to seven, at 12-5, with four minutes remaining. Cazenovia took advantage of a pair of Baldwinsville set violations on faceoffs in the final minutes of play, adding two more on scores from Bragg and Tim Burr, but Baldwinsville was able to close it out for the 12-7 win.
Despite the final score, Falge was encouraged by his side’s effort.
“That’s probably the best Class A school in Section III, so if we can match up with them, we will be in fine shape,” he said of the season-opening litmus test. “Our surge in the second half showed the character of our kids. I challenged them at half time a little bit and told themthe first four minutes of the second half will not only define the game but maybe our identity. I think the kids to it to heart. They came out and really played hard.”
“This team is kind of forging its identity, and I think we are going to get better as the year goes on. I really like the kids, I like the chemistry. It’s going to be an exciting year for us.”