What every high school sports team wants to do is play at its best when the games matter most.
Skaneateles boys lacrosse is no exception, and there were clear signs the Lakers were rounding into top form at just the right time, starting with last Monday’s impressive 11-6 victory over the Homer Trojans at Hyatt Stadium and continuing with a 15-7 romp over Christian Brothers Academy two nights later.
Homer arrived first. The Trojans had reached the state Class C rankings earlier this season, and were still 8-4 going into Skaneateles, only to get shut out in a pivotal first quarter where the Lakers established its will on both ends and took a 4-0 lead.
By halftime, the margin was 6-1, and Skaneateles spent the rest of the game protecting that margin, playing superb ,c onsistent defense in front of goalie Kyle Oschner, who stopped eight of the 14 direct shots he faced.
A well-balanced attack featured eight goal-scorers. Only Sam Duggan found the net more than once, and he did so four times as Reggie Buell, Pat Hackler, Jack VanSlyke and Pat Callahan each got one goal and one assist. Matt Goetzmann, Reece Eddy and John Danforth notched single goals.
Great as this was, Skaneateles stepped up even more for CBA, a team coached by former Syracuse University star Ric Beardsley that is known for its offensive potency, but struggles in surrendering goals.
Sensing this, Skaneateles began to assert its physical will in the second quarter, and it began a breakout. Up 3-2, it saw Danforth earn a goal to initiate a wild flurry of action where 10 goals were scored in the period.
Duggan had three of those tallies, as his natural hat trick created an 8-5 halftime margin. That didn’t satisfy the Lakers, though, as it proceeded to shut out CBA in the third period and spread out that margin to 13-5.
Despite Duggan earning five goals and two assists, the Brothers couldn’t concentrate on him because Buell was lighting up CBA, too, finding the net six times and finishing an RBI. Danforth added a second goal as Goetzmann and VanSlyke also converted.
Oschner, aside from his 13 saves, also managed an assist on a scoring play as John Ryan, Pat Callahan and Devin Callahan earned single assists. No one on CBA’s side had more than the two goals and one assist put up by Ben McCreary and Lincoln McGarrity.
Those wins moved Skaneateles to 8-5, but it didn’t clinch a winning record until Saturday’s game at Cortland, where it breezed past the Purple Tigers 17-6 in a game decided in the second quarter, where the Lakers used seven unanswered goals to break out of a 4-4 tie.
Duggan again had a big outing as he scored five times, with Buell getting three goals and three assists. VanSlyke and Hackler had two goals apiece as Goetzmann, Eddy and Nick Wamp earned the other goals. Danforth and Devin Callahan each picked up an assist.
This leads to Tuesday’s long-awaited rematch with archrival Marcellus, who rallied late to stun the Lakers 14-13 on April 12. Skaneateles takes on Tully in Wednesday’s regular-season finale.
