( Spartans Nation making noise.)

The Lakers on the other hand did everything in their power to create odd man rush opportunities by catching Spartans forwards in deep.

The back and forth action was nearly tilted in favor of the Spartans at the 6:48 mark of the opening period when Section III Division II Player of the Year Clayton Whittemore ripped a wrist shot past Powell but the puck went off the post, keeping the game scoreless, which is the way the first period would end.

Spencer Landry made 8 saves for New Hartford and Powell stopped 9 for the Lakers in the opening stanza.

(Caz goalie Mason Powell (30) looks to pounce on a puck off the stick of Spartans forward Alex Fukes (10), while Lakers defenseman Zachary Bonavita (4) gives chase. )

The second period saw the Spartans ramp up their offensive pressure from the opening face off. At the 11:00 minute mark veteran forward Alex Fukes nearly put the Spartans ahead on a breakaway but Fukes was stymied by a great save by Mason Powell.

Just 24 seconds later it was Fukes and linemate Mike Critelli on a 2-1 break that saw Fukes fire a shot just wide.

Then, with 6:54 remaining in the second period the Spartans had just killed their 3rd penalty of the period and Clayton Whittemore jumped on the ice from the penalty box and picked up a loose puck, carried it into the Lakers zone and beat Powell to put the Spartans up 1-0.

(New Hartford's Clayton Whittemore (21) watches as his shot finds the back of the net while Cazenovia defenseman Joe Nardella (20) and goalie Mason Powell (30) react.)

Yet another Spartans penalty put the Lakers on their 4th power play of the second period but Whittemore picked off a pass headed for the point in the Spartans end and sped down the ice with linemate Jason Fitzgerald, who returned a pass to Whittemore, who slid the puck past Powell to make it 2-0 Spartans with 5:30 to go in the second period.

Being down to New Hartford by one goal presents a challenge for any team. Being down two goals to the Spartans is, well, a mountain to climb.

With a 2-0 lead the Spartans landed two more players in the sin bin and the Lakers found themselves with a 5 on 3 power play.

Suddenly the mountain got a little shorter and Caz's Joe Nardella stuffed the puck past a diving Spencer Landry to pull the Lakers within 2-1 with 4:00 minutes left in the middle period.

(Cazenovia's Sam Lewis (25) puts a hit on New Hartford's Chris Luker (9) late in the third period.)

The Lakers dodged a bullet with just a minute to go in the period when Jason Fitzgerald hit the post and we went to the second intermission with the Spartans leading 2-1. The Spartans held a 22-15 advantage in shots after the first two frames.

In the opening minutes of the third period the Lakers came out flying and put three quick shots on the Spartans net.

Just 1:15 into the period Joe Nardella took a pass from teammate Sean Cannizzaro and beat Landry from the left faceoff circle to tie things up at 2-2. Connor Cannizaro also had an assist on the play.

The remainder of the third period of this one will be remembered as a classic battle between a couple of teams whose players have played against each other since their youth hockey days as squirts.

Each team had their opportunities to take the lead but neither could capitalize. Cazenovia's best chance came on a 5-4 power play with 6:22 remaining when Connor Cannizzaro put a point blank shot on Spencer Landry but the Spartans goalie made a huge save to keep things tied at 2-2.

Mike Critelli gave the Spartans a big chance with 4:23 remaining but his snap shot was snapped up by Mason Powell. The exhausted teams ended regulation tied and overtime is where they went.

(Lakers fans were out in force hoping for a big win.)

After a three minute break, the Spartans and Lakers squared off for a 7:30 sudden death overtime period. Just 10 seconds into the O.T. Eric Fitzgerald received a tripping penalty and the Lakers were in business with a 5-4 advantage.

The Spartans penalty kill was once again up to the task and Alex Fukes even had a chance to win it :30 seconds into the penalty kill but Mason Powell once again came up big for the Lakers.

Fukes was around the goal all day long and his tenacity paid off at the 5:05 mark of overtime when the shifty senior broke loose again, skated into the Caz end put a backhand shot between Powell's pads to give the Spartans a 3-2 victory.

"I was trying to lift the puck high to the glove side, it didn't lift but it found a hole and that's what matters I guess," an exhausted Fukes told MHTS after the big win, adding, "My backhand is my bread and butter and I knew once I got the break that I was going to go to the backhand. Fortunately it worked it out".

( Section III DII Champions-New Hartford Spartans)

Spencer Landry, a sophomore who made 20 saves and was strong down the stretch today, said being a part of last year's State Championship team has helped this year's team to win the close games. "We have a bunch of guys with big game experience and that helps, like today being able to keep working hard into the overtime and then Alex getting the game winner."

Up next for the Spartans, who improve to 18-4-1, is a repeat trip to the New York State Regional Tournament against the State's number 1 ranked team, Webster-Thomas (22-1) from the Rochester area.

Webster Thomas won the Section V Championship with a 4-0 win over Victor. The winner of that game will secure a place in the New York State Frozen Four at the Aud in Utica March 13th and 14th.

Cazenovia ends a great season at 16-5-2.

Boxscore:

NEW HARTFORD 3 CAZENOVIA 2

                     1     2     3     OT     Final

Cazenovia        0     1     1      0        2

New Hartford    0     2     0      1        3


Leading Scorers:

Cazenovia

Joe Nardella- 2 goals
Connor Cannizzaro- 1 assist
Sean Cannizzaro-1 assist

New Hartford

Clayton Whittemore-2 goals
Alex Fukes- 1 goal-1 assist
Jason Fitzgerald- 1 assist