Now the Skaneateles girls soccer team is ready for the challenge of the Section III Class B playoffs, even though the last week of the regular season brought a small setback.
It came in last Wednesday’s game at Westhill, where the Lakers found far more difficulty with the state Class B no. 3-ranked Warriors than it did in their initial encounter the week before and took a 1-0 defeat.
Just eight days earlier, on Oct. 7, Skaneateles had played Westhill to a 2-2 draw. But the rematch proved different, with both teams trying to shake off games from the day before and a constant, heavy rain to add to the difficulty.
Westhill controlled the flow of play, adjusting its defense and, unlike the first encounter, rarely letting Skaneateles find any open space. That led to constant pressure on the Lakers’ end and a series of off-target shots as it waited for something better.
Then, less than a minute before halftime, Westhill’s Jayanna Monds timed a pass to the middle that Katelyn Karleski took in, and when Skaneateles goalie Sophie Kush ran out to meet her, Karleski slipped a shot that trickled into the unoccupied net.
All through the second half, Westhill made sure that one-goal margin held up, applying lots of offensive pressure to keep the ball out of its own end. Though goalie Arlana Henneberry made nine saves, she didn’t have to make any low-percentage stops, and Kush needed 13 saves to keep the game close.
Skaneateles arrived at Westhill without the benefit of rest. Both teams had played the day before, with the Warriors beating Jordan-Elbridge 7-1 and the Lakers, hosting Solvay, mostly relying on a first-half surge to beat the Bearcats 4-1.
Taking advantage of the wind, Skaneateles bolted out to a 3-0 halftime lead, spreading its production around in front of a defense that held Solvay to four shots, one of them Camille Devereaux’s second-half goal.
Tate Green, with one goal and one assist, led the charge. Melissa Amory, Amanda Wetmore and Laurel Parker also put in goals to give the Lakers a well-balanced attack.
The loss to Westhill hurt, but again Skaneateles didn’t have time to rest just yet, because it would host Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Thursday night for its third game in a 48-hour span, and despite some nervous moments, the Lakers pulled it out, beating the Rebels 3-1.
On Senior night for the quintet of Ally Pietrapaoli, Hannah Powers, Emmeline Graham, Molly Rouke and Keely Gregg, Skaneateles fell behind, 1-0, as APW’s Kylie Bartlett scored, but Powers fed Molly Newton for the tying goal, and it was 1-1 going to halftime.
Gradually, the Lakers’ attackers wore the Rebels down, and Green took full advantage, feeding it to Catie Woodruff for the go-ahead goal and then tacking on an insurance goal later in the half, Powers earning her second assist.
And that left the Lakers at 11-4-1 heading into the sectional tournament, where as the no. 5 seed it would get a third chance to knock off Cazenovia, the no. 4 seed, after two regular-season defeats to those other Lakers. That quarterfinal game is at the Sean Googin Sports Complex late this week.
