In essence, three big games in a two-week October stretch would go a long way toward defining how the Skaneateles girls soccer team would look at itself heading into the Section III Class B playoffs.
The first of them arrived last Thursday night, when Skaneateles ventured to Cazenovia, bent on avenging a 3-2 defeat to their Laker namesakes at Hyatt Stadium on Sept. 8.
Yet despite a near-perfect start, Skaneateles could not sustain that momentum, gradually overwhelmed by a Cazenovia side that proved its state Class B no. 8 ranking was far from a fluke and prevailed by a score of 3-1.
If the hosts were not paying full attention, then what happened just 65 seconds into the game changed matters. Off a well-timed feed from Ally Pietropaoli, Laurel Parker flicked a shot past Cazenovia goalie Maggie Johnson, and the visitors were up 1-0.
That Cazenovia deficit lasted less than seven minutes. Casey Crawford threaded a pass right between defenders and Audrey Burbidge, catching it in stride, dribbled in and beat Skaneateles goalie Sophie Kush to tie it, 1-1.
From there, the game settled into a general pattern of Cazenovia making consistent pushes with its forwards and applying pressure on the Skaneateles back line. At times, though, the visiting Lakers found space, too, and offered counterattacks.
A sequence near the end of the first half illustrated both trends. From 20 yards out, Crawford took a hard shot that appeared wide of the target, but glanced off a Skaneateles defender and, before Kush could react, caromed off the left post and into the net, putting Cazenovia ahead for good.
Less than a minute later, Skaneateles nearly tied it again, with a cross from the right side that found Lauren Goodchild, whose hard shot was on target – but Johnson, acting on pure instinct, deflected it over the net, keeping it 2-1 for her side going to the break.
As the second half wore on, the Skaneateles attacks grew less frequent. Though Johnson made 10 saves, she felt far less heat than earlier in the game, and Cazenovia remained consistent in its attack.
A familiar combination produced the insurance goal in the 52nd minute. Again, Crawford threaded a pass from the side and, again, Burbidge took it, waiting until Kush ran out to meet her before slipping a low, hard shot into the unoccupied net.
Before that, Skaneateles tuned up by getting to double digits on the scoreboard in last Monday’s home game against Phoenix, a 10-0 romp that included five goals in each half against the same Firebirds team it beat 11-2 on Sept. 3.
Hannah Powers broke out, scoring four times and adding an assist. Laurel Parker got two goals, with Ally Pietropaoli managing a goal and two assists. Tate Green, Lauren Goodchild and Molly Newton also found the net.
The loss to Cazenovia meant that Skaneateles would quickly need to regain its confidence, since on Tuesday it met Westhill for the first of two encounters in a nine-day span, with games against Hannibal, Solvay and APW squeezed in, too, during the regular-season homestretch.
