Through 37 seasons, 500-plus victories and eight Section III titles, Ron Doctor had built, from scratch, a boys lacrosse program at Skaneateles that was among the finest in Central New York.
All that was missing from Doctor’s resume was a state championship, and in 2019, the Lakers entered the post-season sporting the top state Class D ranking and a belief that it would give its coaching legend a proper send-off.
But Skaneateles never got out of the sectional semifinals, stunned last Tuesday by no. 4 seed LaFayette in an 8-7 decision at East Syracuse Minoa Stadium where the Lakers nearly made a miraculous comeback, but could not get over a shocking first-half shutout.
This was the very same LaFayette team Skaneateles beat 14-7 a week earlier and had only gone 8-7 in the regular season. But the Lancers had routed Tully 24-10 in its sectional quarterfinal and believed that it could turn things around against the Lakers, too.
What happened during the first two periods would long linger for Skaneateles. No matter how many times it attacked, it got turned away by a determined LaFayette defense anchored by goalie Collin Dix, who earned most of his 21 saves early.
Meanwhile, the Lancers built a 3-0 margin and then doubled it in the second quarter, Ethan Gentile scored once, assisted on Trevor Hill’s goal and saw Dylan Lyons convert to leave the Lakers staring at a 6-0 halftime deficit.
Urgency helped Skaneateles turn it around during the third quarter, blanking the Lancers while picking up four unanswered goals. But LaFayette countered early in the final period with a goal by Hill and, most importantly, Lyons finding the net even though his team was two players down.
Now down 8-4, the Lakers made one more push, scoring twice and then moving within one with 17 seconds left, but not able to get the last possession it needed to force overtime.
On the day he was chosen to participate in the Under Armour All-America Game in Baltimore on June 29, Pat Hackler closed out his storied high school career with a goal and two assists.
Nick Wamp and Grayson Brunelle were the only Lakers to score twice, with Brendan Powers and Evan Brunelle getting goals, though John Danforth was held to one assist.
Another painful ending came in the sectional Class C semifinals at Central Square, where defending champion Westhill was less than a second from knocking out state no. 2-ranked Christian Brothers Academy, but still lost, 13-12, in overtime to the Brothers.
Westhill took a far different approach to this game than the slow-it-down style that didn’t work when the Brothers beat them 12-7 two weeks earlier.
The Warriors built a 5-3 margin by the end of the first quarter before three straight goals by Wyatt Auyer, Sam Bonacci and Preston Taylor gave CBA a 6-5 lead – the only time it would lead in regulation.
Westhill answered with a 4-1 run to close the half, with Jack Grooms scoring for the fourth time and Reilly Sizing converting to put the Warriors in front 9-7 at the break.
Throughout most of the second half, CBA found itself chasing the Warriors, twice getting within one and twice seeing Westhill answer. When Will Delano scored early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors led 12-10, but would not convert again.
Ryan Mackenzie, who had carried the Brothers’ attack most of the way, cut the margin to one with his sixth goal with 7:21 left. Now, trying to protect its lead, Westhill reverted to the patient style that had not worked in the first meeting.
But with a minute to play, the Warriors, trying to kill the remaining clock, was whistled for a pick play, giving CBA one more chance. Twice in that final minute, the Brothers called time-outs.
Against Westhill’s zone defense, the ball worked itself around to the right side to Colin Kelly, who had not yet scored in this game. Perhaps sensing the clock running out, Kelly charged and fired one past Aiden Felter with just 0.6 seconds left.
Now with all of the momentum, CBA turned back a Westhill man-up chance early in OT, and then pushed the ball to the other end, where Taylor found Kelly on the left side, and Kelly drilled home the game-winner 1:52 into the extra period.
