Patience, hard work and talent all were needed to get the Skaneateles girls ice hockey team back to the Section III championship game.
The Lakers, defending both its sectional and state titles, trailed into the second period of Wednesday night’s sectional semifinal against Alexandria Bay at Allyn Arena, but its overwhelming pressure eventually led to production and a 6-3 victory over the Islanders.
Skaneateles took 57 shots to Alex Bay’s 13, and the only reason it didn’t get out of hand early was the sensational work of Islanders goaltender Jenna Christopher.
But as head coach Andy Rozak put it, “we stayed calm and stuck to our game plan, and put more bodies in front of the net.”
One of those players was a particularly welcome sight for Skaneateles fans. Junior Megan Teachout, the team’s leading scorer for much of the season, had missed three games with an ankle sprain, which included a 4-1 defeat to Alex Bay the week before the playoffs.
Even with Teachout’s presence, and with three power plays in the first period, none of the Lakers’ 19 shots got past Christopher, who kept turning away chances as long as there were clear looks at the puck.
Meanwhile, Lydia Cantwell’s rebound goal on a breakaway midway through the first period had Alex Bay in front 1-0, and it remained that way until Ioanna Christou broke through with a tying goal 8:18 into the second period.
So began a wild sequence where Teachout fired in a point-blank shot from the left point to put Skaneateles in front 2-1, only to have Taylor Hudon tie it at the 11:11 mark, a tie that lasted all of 57 seconds as Sophia Burns tipped in Christou’s shot from the right point.
Entering the third period up 3-2, Skaneateles converted on its eighth power play thanks to Christou’s second goal, assisted by Teachout and Campbell Torrey. Rozak said that Christou “played a phenomenal game”, constantly making end-to-end rushes around Alex Bay defenders.
Renzi Youngs’ goal with 9:22 left made it 4-3, but the Lakers finally got away thanks to Teachout, who assisted when Burns poured in an insurance goal and then converted herself with 1:08 left.
Rozak said that Teachout’s biggest contribution is the ability to draw attention to her, usually one or two players, leaving teammates open, plus her natural ability to create scoring opportunities.
Teachout, Christou, Burns and the rest of the Lakers (13-3) will head to Ithaca Sunday for the sectional final after the Little Red beat Oswego 7-2 in the other semifinal.
Skaneateles and Ithaca split two regular-season meetings, each side winning at home. The Little Red ended the Lakers’ 27-game win streak 4-1 at Lynah Rink on Dec. 19, but Skaneateles claimed the second meeting 3-1 at Allyn Arena three weeks later.
