MIDDLETOWN – Just the idea of a third consecutive state Class B championship for the Skaneateles boys soccer team was improbable enough for most of the 2022 season.
The fact that this team even had a chance at it, given inevitable roster turnover plus a head-coaching change from Aaron Moss to Pete O’Connor, was a tribute to the top-to-bottom program built up at Skaneateles in recent years.
Yet on a chilly Sunday morning at Middletown High School, a player who was part of last season’s undefeated run delivered the decisive blow late in regulation that produced a 1-0 Lakers victory over Poughkeepsie Lourdes and that state championship three-peat.
“We’ve embodied the motto of ‘Believe’,” said O’Connor. “They (the players) believed, and it came true.”
Jack Phillips, who had netted the game-winner in overtime when Skaneateles beat Bath Haverling in the 2021 final on this same Middletown turf, did it again, just when it looked like the Lakers and Warriors were on the way to overtime in the state final.
Nearly 77 minutes of regulation had passed and it was 0-0 when Lourdes turned the ball over inside its own end, giving the Lakers another opportunity after many other previous chances were turned back.
Phillips got possession off a pass from Wyatt Langford up the left side. Driving down the wing, he brought out Warriors goalie Ned Van Loan, and just as that happened Phillips ripped the ball past him inside the near post with just 2:59 to play.
Lourdes was unable to answer, and the Lakers had a fourth overall state title to go with the ones earned in 2010, 2019 and 2021, though this one might be the most unlikely of all.
Early on Saturday morning at Goshen High School, Skaneateles faced Section II champion Mechanicville in the state semifinals and, thanks to a dream start, put away the Red Raiders 5-1.
Sometimes an 8:30 a.m. kickoff can lead to uneven early play. Not with the Lakers, who before Mechanicville could even settle in found itself with a comfortable 3-0 edge.
Casey Kenan netted the first goal, assisted by David Petercsak. Then Dan Ramsgard converted back-to-back tallies with assists to Kenan and Phillips, all before the game was 10 minutes old.
It was the kind of scoring outburst the 2021 state champions led by Tylar Moss and Owen Cheney made routine, but here its timing made the remaining 70-plus minutes a chase on Mechanicville’s part.
Still, the Lakers kept adding to its total, Phillips netting a goal in the 30th minute before Rece Dyer converted to get the Red Raiders on the board, trimming the margin to 4-1 just before halftime.
But any hopes of a Mechanicville rally got dashed when Phillips scored his second goal early in the second half, and the Lakers cruised from there, moving on to the title game.
In the other semifinal, Lourdes defeated Section VI’s Lewiston-Porter 3-1. Now only the Warriors stood between Skaneateles and another state title.
They started again at 8:30 in the morning on Sunday, and again the Lakers were on the front foot, not converting its early chances but keeping Lourdes in its own end and forcing Van Loan to make a leaping save in the 10th minute.
As the first half wore on, the Warriors picked up pressure and drew some set pieces, including corner kicks, that the Lakers’ defense, led by Kenan, Jeff McCrone and Connor Corbett, turned back in front of goalie Evan Wingifeld.
In the 38th minute, a corner kick by Wyatt Langford deflected in front of Van Loan, but he was able to get it before a Skaneateles player could convert, and it remained 0-0 going into halftime.
More set piece s followed early in the second half, including a Lakers free kick in the 54th minute that was hit hard – but right into Van Loan’s hands. Minutes later, Wingfield made a diving stop on Lourdes’ best opportunity yet.
Late in regulation, the Warriors picked up its pressure even more, as everyone on both sides understood now that a single goal would decide matters and the tension grew.
And it was Phillips who authored that goal. By doing so, he prolonged the Lakers’ reign atop state Class B soccer.
