Much about the Skaneateles boys soccer team’s match-up with Westhill Wednesday night was different from when the two sides met last fall for the Section III Class B championship – including the result.
Controlling the flow of play on both ends, the Lakers shut out the Warriors 4-0, staying undefeated and giving Westhill its first defeat of the season.
Though these sides were the same that played in that 2013 sectional final, the Lakers had far less roster turnover this fall, with just five seniors gone.
Westhill, by contrast, had seen 13 seniors, inlcuding standouts like Barak BenYehuda, Matt Torak, Alex Skeele, Jared Ristoff and Tom Kinsella, graduate. Yet even with so many new faces in the lineup, the Warriors had roared to a 4-0 start this fall, while Skaneateles had won its first three games.
With a large, loud crowd on hand at Westhill’s turf, the Lakers attacked from the outset, pushing the Warriors’ defenders back to its own end and giving up many corner kicks and throws from near its net.
The pressure, especially from the long, acrobatic throw-ins by Shawn Palmer, paid off in the 20th minute when the Warriors were unable to clear the ball out at the point and Sam Clymer, from 20 yards out, rocketed a high shot that Westhill goalie Antonio Scrimale had no chance to stop.
Despite many more good looks in the half, that 1-0 lead held until the break, so while Skaneateles had ample control of the game, it was far from safe.
That started to change 56 seconds into the second half. Again, the Lakers forced a throw from the right corner, and Palmer flung it to the right post, where Eli Goodell headed it inside the top-right corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Any time that Westhill tried to establish an attack, the active Skaneateles back line quickly broke up those possessions, giving goalkeeper Billy Patrick little chance to work throughout the evening.
An outburst late in regulation helped seal matters. Thanks to a foul inside the 18-yard box, Jack Bailey converted a penalty kick, his shot eluding a diving Scrimale with 9:07 left. Just 34 seconds later, Skaneateles was on the doorstep again, and Max Messie converted the fourth and final goal.
The Lakers are not done with Westhill, for they’ll have a rematch Oct. 7 at Hyatt Stadium. In the meantime, Skaneateles returned home on the weekend to host the annual Finger Lakes Cup – where, for the first time this season, it met with real adversity.
Going up against Rochester Aquinas in the first round Friday night, the Lakers fell victim to a late surge in a 3-0 loss, keeping the game scoreless until the Little Irish notched all three of its goals in the second half, negating Patrick’s five saves.
Forced into Saturday’s consolation game against West Genesee (who had fallen 2-1 to Canisius, from Buffalo, in the opening round), the Lakers got into a wild, back-and-forth affair, but again suffered defeat, falling to the Wildcats 4-3.
What made the loss more frustrating was the way Bailey carried the Skaneateles attack, picking up two goals and assisting on the other, by Palmer. WG countered with a balanced attack where four different players – Drew Francisco, Steve Fucillo, Brandon Fascia and Tyler Pirro – earned the four goals.
Once the Lakers were finished with Monday’s game at surprising Jordan-Elbridge, it would get a much-needed 10-day break before resuming its season Sept. 25 at Phoenix. Skaneateles will not play a home game for more than two weeks until Cazenovia visits Hyatt Stadium on Sept. 30.
