A rout, a romp, a one-sided victory, a statement – whatever it can be called, there was no denying what the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team pulled off Saturday afternoon at Onondaga Community College’s new turf field.
Ignoring what the rankings might say, and completely ignoring recent history, the Lakers pummeled its prime rival for Class C supremacy, LaFayette, by an astonishing 15-3 margin.
Prior to their only regular-season encounter, Skaneateles sat at no. 7 in the state Class C rankings – but LaFayette was at no. 2. At the very least, the Lakers, who had ripped through its first six opponent this spring, expected to fight a close battle with the Lancers, who were also undefeated.
That notion started to melt away in the first quarter, for even though LaFayette was winning the face-offs, it could not convert them – and Skaneateles, when it got the ball, was ripping through the Lancers’ defense without much resistance.
Kelly Donigan got things moving. Of the Lakers’ first four goals, Donigan scored twice and assisted on the other two, by front-line mates Kevin Rice and Paul O’Donnell.
Ahead 5-1 after one period, Skaneateles unleashed its defense in the second quarter. LaFayette would get long possessions, but the Lakers’ back line of Kyle McQuiggan, Rory Callahan and Trevor Diamond kept them from the net, often double-teaming the Lancers’ high-scoring brother tandem of Miles and Lyle Thompson. Goalie Cal Winkelman made his fair share of big saves, too.
By halftime, it was 7-2, Rice had a three-goal hat trick and LaFayette was awash in frustration. And the Lakers were far from done.
After the Lancers cut the lead to 7-3 early in the third quarer, Rice scored 18 seconds later, and the Lancers would not find the net again, a drought of more than 23 minutes.
Skaneateles landed six unanswered goals in the third period to put the game away. Rice upped his total to six goals, adding two assists as Donigan piled up four goals and three assists. O’Donnell finished with two goals and three assists.
To cap things off, midfielders like Kyle Baier, Mike Richards, Dylan Ross, Tom Schoener and Zach Brownlee controlled the ball on both ends. Richards provided a highlight when he charged 50 yards into the Lancers’ end and fired home a goal during that third-quarter blitz.
Prior to this, there was the not-so-small manner of playing another long-time rival, Marcellus, at home last Tuesday afternoon. It wasn’t a smooth effort at first, but the Lakers, fueled by Paul O’Donnell’s offensive heroics, pulled away to beat the Mustangs 13-5.
Marcellus held on for quite a while. The combination of sound, physical defense and a three-goal hat trick from Greg Ramsden helped the Mustangs stay tied, 3-3, through one period and only trail by one, 5-4, going into the break.
As so many other times, though, the Lakers’ mid-game adjustments turned things more lopsided. A pitch-perfect defense nearly shut out Marcellus in the last two periods (and did so in the fourth quarter), giving Skaneateles all kinds of time to put things away.
O’Donnell certainly helped out, constantly working through the Marcellus resistance until he had finished with five goals and three assists, having a hand in more than half the Lakers’ scoring plays.
Offering the support, Richards had three goals, while Rice scored twice, adding an assist. Schoener and Joe Duggan each finished with one goal and one assist as Zach Brownlee aso converted. Steve Scuderi and Kyle Baier earned assists.
Instead of basking in the big win over Lafayette, the Lakers would meet Onondaga on Tuesday and Manlius-Pebble Hill to close out its April slate.
