Perhaps it helped the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team to draw Cazenovia in Tuesday’s Class C semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
Scared by those other Lakers two weeks earlier, Skaneateles made sure that didn’t happen again, starting each half with a big surge and breezing to a 10-2 victory.
That win sets up an epic Class C final Friday at 3:30 at CNS between Skaneateles (18-1) and top seed LaFayette (20-0), who beat Westhill 15-10 in the other semifinal. The Lakers’ lone loss came to the Lancers on May 2.
When they had last met Cazenovia on May 19, Skaneateles had survived a narrow 7-5 decision, so it knew to be wary. But it did have an enormous advantage of experience, as this was Cazenovia’s first-ever trip to the sectional semifinals.
Comfortable in a big-game setting, Skaneateles jumped on Cazenovia, leading 5-0 by the end of the first quarter. This made Skaneateles relax — perhaps a bit too much, as it didn’t even score in the second period.
Still, solid defense from the likes of Kyle McQuiggan, Lex Johnson and Lucas Sherman helped keep the margin at 5-1 at halftime, and Skaneateles took off again in the third quarter, going on a 4-0 run to erase any suspense.
No single player dominated in the attack — but none needed, to either, as seven different players scored.
Kyle Baier, Dylan Ross and Tom Schoener each had two goals, with Schoener and Baier adding assists. Nathan Hunt, Patrick Emmer, Kevin Rice and Mike Richards also took turns scoring, with Kelly Donigan adding two assists. Paul O’Donnell got an assist, too.
