Molly Wood and the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team put together an authoritative performance that left them one victory from the program’s third state Class C championship.

Wood’s five first-half goals set the tone, and the rest of the Lakers followed suit, defeating Putnam Valley 16-6 in Friday afternoon’s state Class C semifinal at SUNY-Cortland.

Wood finished with six goals, a new career mark, and the rest of the Lakers were just as sharp, too, which means a return trip to Cortland on Saturday for the state title game against Mount Sinai, which starts at 2:30.

“We were pumped up to be here,” said Wood.

Though it was the first state final four trip for this group of Skaneateles players, it was just as new to Putnam Valley, the Section I champions who needed to win two regional games (12-11 over Albany Academy, 10-4 over Red Hook) to get this far.

And it was the Lakers adjusting better to the big stage, getting in front 1:05 into the game as Kyla Sears fed Wood for the game’s opening goal. Breaking open again, Wood notched her second goal less than a minute letter, fed this time by Emma Ford.

“As we scored, we got more relaxed, and Molly just got rolling,” said Skaneateles head coach Bridget Marquardt.

It took barely seven minutes for Wood to earn a hat trick, her third goal assisted by Sears, and when Ford converted at the 7:41 mark to make it 5-1, Putnam Valley had to burn a time-out.

Wood said she just saw openings in the Tigers’ defenses and capitalized on them, and her production proved contagious. Hannah Powers’ goal continued the Lakers’ momentum, and Wood converted for the fourth time at the midway point of the half.

That, plus a goal from Nicole Beatson, made it 8-2. Putnam Valley finally made some stops late in the half, and got two goals from Eva Rabson. In between them, though, Wood struck once more, her fifth goal allowing Skaneateles to take a 9-4 edge to the break.

Early in the second half, the Lakers, thanks to Alana Navaroli’s draw controls, possessed the ball for long stretches. Though Rabson cut the margin to 9-5, Wood answered two minutes later with her sixth goal, and Ford converted 32 seconds later.

By the time Beatson grabbed the rebound of her own shot off the pipe and found the net with 16:59 left, Skaneateles had a 12-5 lead. Powers and Casey VanSlyke added goals 32 seconds apart at the mid-point of the half, with Sears and Sophie Gorman contributing goals in the latter stages.

Not long after, the Lakers found out that it was facing Mount Sinai, who had needed overtime to squeak past Honeoye Falls-Lima 7-6 in the other semifinal. Wood said that, regardless of who was in the way, her team was ready to win it all.

“We’re ready to do whatever we can to win a state championship,” she said.