Cortland Standard .net

FAYETTEVILLE — Derek White scored the game winner in the fourth quarter as Cazenovia held on to hand Homer Central boys their first loss of the lacrosse season Thursday night at Fayetteville-Manlius High School.
White’s second goal of the night was the difference as the defending Section 3 Class C champion Lakers (2-0 overall) escaped with a 7-6 non-league victory after owning a 5-1 halftime advantage.
Homer scored five goals in the second half, but could not overcome the four-goal deficit in its first loss of the season in four outings. It was a rematch of last year’s Class C title game, won by Cazenovia 12-8 over the Trojans.
“We had to make some defensive adjustments before the game,” Homer coach Tom Cottrell said after losing two starting defenders prior to the game, one for medical reasons and one who went on a college visit.
“We made those adjustment and did a good job, We had offensive opportunities that their goalkeeper made some great saves on. Overall, I though it was a real solid outing for our guys,” said Cottrell.
White added one assist to his scoring line. P.J. Brown and Jake Stowell added two goals each to the Cazenovia attack. Jake Lewis contributed one goal while Adam Race dished out one assist.
Dean Riley led the Trojan comeback with four goals and one assist. Riley’s four goals gives him 12 this season and 50 for his career. Anthony Basile netted the other two Trojan goals with Danny Turck handing out two assists and Brody Urban collecting one assist. Basile’s goals were his 11th and 12th of the season and 79th and 80th of his career as the senior now has 103 career points.
Stowell gave the Lakers a 1-0 led with an unassisted first quarter goal. Riley tied the game with 7:32 left in the quarter off a Turck assist. Brown made it 2-1 with 6:12 left in the quarter.
White scored his first goal with 7:01 left in the second quarter off Race’s assist and the Lakers 3-1 advantage held until late in the half. Stowell scored an unassisted goal with 2:31 left in the half and Jake Lewis tallied with 1:24 on the clock with White assisting for the 5-1 cushion.
“Those last two goals really hurt,” Cottrell said. “We were building some momentum and thought trailing 3-1 at halftime would have been the best case for us.”
The Trojans pulled to within 5-3 as Basile (10:15) and Riley (8:33) scored unassisted goals. Brown stopped the Homer run with his second goal with 4:49 left on the third quarter clock. Riley cut the Laker lead to 6-4 with 3:07 left in the quarter with Turck assisting.
Homer pulled to within 6-5 when Basile found the cage with Riley assisting. The Trojans had a chance to tie the game, but a poor possession gave the ball back to Cazenovia and White connected for the game-winner with 3:35 to play.
Riley scored a man-up goal with 58 seconds left with Urban assisting. Homer did get a loose ball and one final shot on cage, but Whalen made the save and the Lakers cleared the ball as time ran out.
Mark Suits recorded 10 saves in the Trojan goal while the 11 saves posted by Whalen certainly were a big part of the Lakers win.
Homer will look to regroup as the boys return to action Thursday traveling to Chittenango for a 1 p.m. OHSL Freedom National Division match. The JV contest will begin at 11 a.m.
HOMER JVs broke open a tight game with four unanswered goals in the third quarter to score the 8-2 win over Cazenovia Tuesday.
“The guys played a fantastic game,” Homer coach Nick Patriarco said, his unbeaten team now 3-0. “We were a little impatient in the first quarter, but slowly settled down and began to make better decisions as the game went on.
“Our attack rode aggressively and got us so many extra possessions,” he added. “Our clearing game was excellent and Coach Sean Mack has our defense communicating very well. To hold Caz to two goals certainly proves that. This was just a great team effort from one end of the field to the other. “
Vinny Basile netted three goals and handed out one assist to pace the Trojan offense. Dante Yacavone added two goals to the winning attack with Jake Riley (one assist), Lars Roos and Tucker O’Donnell each netting one goal. Mike Turck stood tall in the Homer goal as he made 10 saves.
Luke Nowalk scored both Cazenovia goals. Chase Cross recorded eight saves between the pipes for the Lakers.