Ron Doctor, the long-time coach of the Skaneateles boys lacrosse team, is now just one victory away from 400 for his career.
The 399th win came on Thursday night as the undefeated, state Class C no. 2-ranked Lakers went to Westhill and fought hard to beat the Warriors 10-6.
Coming off a big win over Cazenovia two days earlier, Skaneateles found Westhill to be a stubborn opponent from the opening faceoff onward.
All through the first half, the Warriors showed no fear of Skaneateles, and, with John Zimmerman producing three goals, had a fair amount of success probing against the Lakers’ back line.
Thus, at halftime Skaneateles only carried a 6-5 lead, its closest margin of the season. Since Westhill was slowing things down, the Lakers’ attack never hit its full rhythm in the second half — but it didn’t have to, either.
Trevor Diamond, Kyle McQuiggan and Rory Callahan stood firm, holding Westhill to just one goal in the last two periods, while goalie Cal Winkleman worked his way to nine saves.
Kevin Rice and Kelly Donigan still had matching three-goal hat tricks, with Rice adding an assist. Thomas Schoener scored twice as Kyle Baier earned a goal and two assists. Mike Richards had the other goal as McQuiggan also joined Zach Brownlee in the assist column.
High anticipation has now built for Tuesday night’s home game against Jordan-Elbridge, and the chance for Doctor to reach the 400-win mark, in advance of Thursday’s regular-season finale at Marcellus.