In his 28-year tenure as Skaneateles boys lacrosse head coach, Ron Doctor has led a fair share of great teams, won plenty of championships and sent dozens of top players into the college ranks.
Yet this just might be Doctor’s best team yet – so it was fitting that they gave their mentor a special milestone.
When the state Class C no. 2-ranked Lakers pounded Jordan-Elbridge 18-5 Tuesday night in front of a large and appreciative home crowd, it marked Doctor’s 400th career victory, the 11th lacrosse coach in state history to reach that mark.
And the Skaneateles players were ready for it – not only by its play on the field, but what they did once the work was done.
Just after the game was finished and the post-game handshakes were complete, the Lakers took off their gold home jerseys and donned navy blue T-shirts with “400” printed on them.
Within seconds, they had surrounded Doctor in a big embrace, then put him on his shoulders and carried him off the field, to a post-game ceremony where again the milestone was celebrated.
After others had talked, Doctor finally got a chance to address the crowd. He immediately showered praise on long-time assistant David Pittard and said the credit didn’t really belong to him.
“It’s not me,” he said. “I’ve had so much help over the years – the parents, the great players that have come through here.”
Then, instead of talking further about his own accomplishment, Doctor asked for a moment of silence in honor of former Skaneateles players who had lost their lives in military service – and those serving now.
Since taking over as coach, Doctor has led Skaneateles to seven Section III championships – six in Class C, one in Class B. In 2002, the Lakers went all the way to the state finals before losing to Shoreham-Wading River.
It was ironic that the Lakers improved to 15-0 by putting together a 15-0 first half. They had no intention of making Doctor wait for that 400th win.
Dominating every phase of the game, Skaneateles put up seven unanswered goals in the first quarter, then added eight more in the second period.
During this spurt, Kelly Donigan set the pace, getting four goals and four assists. Paul O’Donnell and Mike Richards each had three goals and one assist as Kevin Rice got two goals and two assists.
Jeff Higman also found the net twice, with Thomas Schoener, Kyle Baier, Zach Ross and Nate Scuderi also earning goals. The defensive line of Kyle McQuiggan, Rory Callahan and Trevor Diamond helped goalie Cal Winkleman (five saves) blank J-E until the second half.
Now all that was left to do was complete an undefeated regular season — which the Lakers did Thursday night, going to Marcellus and having some early struggles before putting away the Mustangs 14-8.
Trying by any means to slow things down, Marcellus did succeed in that plan for a bit, only trailing 4-3 at halftime. But a subtle shift in the Skaneateles attack led to more production in the second half and a comfortable margin.
Rice proved impossible to contain, nearly matching the Mustangs by himself with seven goals, while Richards took on a larger role and produced four goals, plus an assist. O’Donnell had the other three goals as Donigan earned three assists and Schoener a single assist.
Skaneateles, as the top seed in the Class C playoffs, might meet Marcellus again in Thursday night’s quarterfinal if the no. 8 seed Mustangs knock off no. 9 seed Tully in the opening round.
It’s already been a memorable year for the Doctor family. Back in February, Ron’s wife, Doreen, led the Skaneateles girls volleyball team to sectional and regional Class B titles. And those Lakers finished unbeaten – just where the lacrosse team is right now.
