All the positive and negative aspects of the Skaneateles boys soccer team emerged Tuesday night in a 4-3 victory over the Westhill Warriors.
The Lakers had roared past its first two opponents, Homer and Cazenovia, with a fierce and fast-paced attack. But in the Cazenovia win, top defender Tim Lewis suffered an ankle injury, which will sideline him for a couple of weeks.
Lewis was on the bench, and his absence didn’t matter much in the early going as Skaneateles bolted to a 2-0 lead. A pretty pair of passes by A.J. Richichi and Jeff Baldetti set up a Kevin Rice goal in the 12th minute, and Jared Amory converted in the 20th minute.
Westhill got on the board when Steve Underwood converted in the 30th minute, but just 12 seconds later the Lakers made it 3-1, four crisp passes from the center spot leading to Rice’s second goal of the night.
Twice in the half, possible Laker goals were called back, and it got interesting again when, off a turnover with 14.3 seconds left in the half, Connor Powell powered a shot past Trevor Diamond, and it was 3-2.
Diamond is still getting used to his role in the net, having taken over during the pre-season after Paul O’Donnell chose to have shoulder surgery and heal in time for lacrosse season in the spring.
During the second half, the exchange continued, Rice feeding Spencer Parker for a goal in the 54th minute to build the lead to 4-2, Westhill’s Taylor Price answering in the 64th minute to slice the margin to one.
Mainly because it stayed aggressive in the homestretch, the Lakers only allowed Westhill a handful of chances in the homestretch and held on.
Three nights later, Skaneateles had its home opener against Marcellus, the team it lost to in last year’s Section III Class B final.
Again, it was close — and again, the Lakers came out on top, edging the Mustangs 1-0. As with Westhill, Skaneateles proved to be the aggressor, constantly making runs at the Marcellus net, but unable to produce anything in the first half.
So it was still 0-0 when, in the second half, the Lakers finally got the break it needed, Parker breaking loose and, taking a pass from Richichi, beating Marcellus keeper Mitch Schoenbrun to put his team in front. Overall, Schoenbrun had 13 saves, eight more than Diamond needed to make.
A busy week lies ahead for the Lakers. After playing Cazenovia and Solvay, it will host the Finger Lakes Invitational this weekend. Games start at 5 p.m. on Friday, with the consolation game Saturday at 1 p.m. and the final at 3:30.
