CICERO – Greene returned to the site of battles lost, and vanquished the memories of those disappointments with an emphatic march through a two-time defending state champion.

The Trojans advanced to their fifth straight New York State semifinal blanking previously unbeaten Cazenovia, 4-0, Saturday in the Class C regional finals at Michael J. Bragman Complex.

In its previous two trips the the state semifinals – both played on the very same field – Greene was not beaten on the field of play, but in a penalty-stroke shootout. Greene nearly scored one minute into this game, tallied its first goal 6:58 in, and proceeded to throttle a club that had won 40 straight games and back-to-back Class C state championships. Futhermore, the Lakers (19-1) didn’t get their first shot on goal until 10 ½ minutes were left in the game – their only official shot.

“We felt coming in the pressure was more on them,” said Greene coach Sue Carlin. “They were defending state champions and had won 40 in a row. That’s why I don’t dwell on streaks. Our kids know they have to win the game.”

Greene generated its first penalty corner 45 seconds into the game, and hard shot by Jahna Driscoll was saved by Caz keeper Lauren Devine. Greene’s Emma Anderson captured the rebound, and fired another close-range shot that required another good save by Devine.

Devine’s early saves only delayed the inevitable.