Many teams, even the great one, are content with loading up its early schedule with easy wins to make sure the confidence is full before any major tests.
That’s not the case with the Skaneateles girls lacrosse Lakers. In its first two outings, the Lakers dealt with a superpower (West Genesee), then squared off with its most bitter rival.
Though the first part didn’t lead to a victory, the second part made up for that, as the Lakers gobbled up goals in a 20-9 victory over the Marcellus Mustangs.
This was simply a game about pace. Marcellus tried, in vain, to slow down the Lakers’ vaunted attack, but could not do so.
Part of the production could be stemmed to the fact that Skaneateles, like any two-time defending state champion, would get an opponent’s best effort. The Mustangs’ defense struggled early, but still managed a reasonable 9-5 halftime deficit because it was aggressive enough to produce its own scoring chances.
Still, Skaneateles had too much, gladly spreading things around. Shannon Tierney led her side in points, backing up her pair of goals with a career-best six assists.
Stephanie Rice scored five times, adding two assists. Jenna Lotkowictz earned four goals, with Kelsey Nangle gaining three goals and three assists and Karen Vitkus earning her own three-goal hat trick.
Libby Johnson, like Nangle, had two goals, adding two assists. Lindsay Angelillo had a goal, too.
For the Mustangs’ part, Sarah Holden led the way, putting up four goals. Five others — Denise Johns, Brittany Buza, Alyssa Przydrozny, Kate Gosson and Meghan Connors — earned single tallies as Johns, Connors and Holden all got assists. Erica Sgouris finished with nine saves, the same total as Skaneateles counterpart Heather Mullen.
The Lakers get another big test on Saturday when it faces Section II power Bethlehem at Herkimer County Community College.
Marcellus will take a spring-break trip to Maryland to face Seton Keough and DeSales Academy, two schools situated in the Baltimore area.
